AN INVESTIGATION 



OF THE 



UNSETTLED 



BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 



BY CHARLES LINDSEY. 



TORONTO: 
PRINTED BY HUNTER, ROSE & CO., 86 & 88 KING ST. WEST. 

1873. 






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ERRATA. 



In the last line but one from the bottom, on page 63, for " 3722-3" read " 1742-3." 
Read the first four lines on page 125 as the credit to the last paragraph in the text 
on the preceding page . 



AN INVESTIGATION 



OF THE UNSETTLED 



BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 



To find the southern limit of the Hudson's Bay Territory, would 
be to find the northern boundary of Ontario ; for the two terri- 
tories are conterminous, and a common line of division separates 
the one from the other. This fact, which cannot be brought into 
dispute, forms a starting point in an enquiry which has for its 
object to trace out the western and the northern boundaries of 
Ontario. Where that line of division is to be found, is the first 
subject of enquiry ; for on the extension of the Province north- 
ward, its western limit might more or less depend. The interna- 
tional boundary between Canadian and United States territory 
becomes coincident with the 49° of north latitude, west from the 
point at which a line drawn due south from the " most north-west- 
ern corner of the Lake of the Woods " would strike that parallel ; 
and it follows that if, west of that point, the United States terri- 
tory abutted on that of Hudson's Bay, Ontario could not extend 
farther in that direction. 

A line of boundary between the Bay and Straits of Hudson, with 
whatever adjacent territory France had previously taken from Eng- 
land on the one side, and Canada on the other, was agreed upon by 
the plenipotentiaries of England and France in 1713, and embodied 
in the Treaty of Utrecht. It was agreed that, in the construction 
of that instrument, when the definite line of division came to be 
laid down, a map which had been used by the plenipotentiaries 
of the two powers, with two lines of division marked on it, should 



2 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

be an authoritative guide, and that the difference between these 
two lines, which was not great, should be the extent of the differ- 
ence to be determined. The Treaty of Utrecht, so far as it was 
not derogated from, was revived and confirmed by the Treaty of 
1763, by which France ceded Canada, with its dependencies, to 
England. The extent of the English territory south and west 
of Hudson's Bay was determined by the Treaty of Utrecht ; and 
that part of Canada which is now Ontario was, by authority of 
the Crown and Parliament, made to extend northward to the 
southern portion of the Hudson's Bay Company's territory in 
the years 1774 and 1791, and this demarcation has never been 
effaced or altered. 

To obtain a full and complete view of the whole subject, it will 
be necessary to trace briefly the history of the several treaties 
which were, from time to time, concluded on the subject of this 
frontier, through the rivalries and contentions of France and 
England for the possession of the Bay and Straits of Hudson. 

Hudson's Bay was discovered in the year 1612 by Sir Thomas 
Button, who had gone in search of a previous discoverer, Henry 
Hudson.* This discovery was not followed by settlement or oc- 

* It might, I think, he shown, if it were material to do so, that no national claims to 
territory could be founded on the discovery of Button, since his vessel appears to hav 
been fitted out by merchant adventurers, and not by the State. In a similar case Great 
Britain denied the validity of the discovery of Gray, an American citizen, of the mouth 
of the Columbia River, on the ground that " he had only been on an enterprise of his 
own, as an individual." — (Rush's Memoranda of a Residence at the Court of London.) 
Button is said to have convinced King James, on his return, of the existence of a 
north-west passage ; and James, the next Englishman who penetrated to the west coast 
of Hudson's Bay, is said to have been furnished with credentials from Charles I. (Bar- 
- row's Arctic Regions), which would give a national character to his enterprise. The 
French commissioners appointed to settle the boundaries of Acadia, in 1750, alleged 
that Cabot's voyage, being of a private character, could confer no national advantages 
on England ; to which the English commissioners replied, admitting the principle but 
denying the fact. " It would be some argument," they said, "to shew this voyage was 
the adventure of Cabot, not made on the part of Henry VII., if all the ships which 
sailed under Cabot's command had been defrayed at his expense, and been his pro- 
perty." And further : "It would also be a circumstance favourable to the interpreta- 
tion the French commissioners put upon this voyage, if Henry VII. had not in his let- 
ters patent inserted words by which he reserved to himself and to his crown dominion 
and royalty in all the lands which shall be discovered or settled by Cabot. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 3 

cupation, nor was any other English voyage to the Bay made till 
1631, when Captain James reached Charlton Island, where he 
wintered. The Bay in which the island is situated still bears his 
name. These two voyages constituted the whole experience Eng- 
lish navigators had of these waters up to the year lb' 6 7. We 
shall hereafter see England insisting on principles by which 
the voyage of James would be precluded from conferring extensive 
rights of territory in the interior of the country. Fifty-five years 
had passed since the first voyage was made ; the captain of Sir Tho- 
mas Button's ship died at the Nelson River, and his experience* was 
lost to the nation. More than a generation — 36 years — had passed 
since James's voyage, and there was probably not then living one 
Englishman who had a personal knowledge of these seas and was 
capable of sailing a vessel there. Of the knowledge obtained in 
these two voyages, enough had no doubt been preserved to enable 
a skilful person to follow in the track of Button and James. 

However this may be, it is certain that the next time English- 
men went to Hudson's Bay they were induced to do so by two 
Frenchmen, Radison and de Groiselier, by whom they were accom- 
panied. Groiselier seems to have served in the capacity of captain 
on a vessel to the Bay, a few years later. While at the Lake of 
the Assinipols, these two Frenchmen had learned from the Indians 
that it was possible to go overland to the head of James' Bay ; 
and, securing Indians as guides, they proceeded thither. They 
returned by way of Lake Superior to Quebec. They went to 
London, and induced some merchants and gentlemen to engage in 
an adventure in that sea. These adventurers engaged the service 
of Zachariah Gillam as captain. The voyage proved successful ; 
and the prospect of future trade induced the adventurers to apply 
for a patent under which they hoped to obtain a monopoly to the 
trade of the Bay and Straits of Hudson. In this way originated 
the Hudson's Bay Company. The patent was granted in the year 
1670. 

Radison and de Groiselier afterwards went over to the service of 
the French, and, betraying the secrets of their previous employers, 
were the cause of Gillam's vessel being taken. M. de la Barre, 



4 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Governor of Canada, without submitting the matter to the Sove- 
reign Council, ordered the restoration of the vessel. For this act 
he was officially censured by his superiors, was told that what he 
had done was entirely unwarranted, that the vessel should have 
been treated as a pirate, and that her surrender would be taken 
by the English as proof that they had legitimate possession of 
Nelson River before Radison and de Groiselier arrived there in 
the service of the French. 

In the year in which it obtained its charter, the company sent 
out M. Baily as Governor. He was accompanied by Radison ; 
their residence was at Rupert River, where an indifferent fort was 
built. 

The French began to show uneasiness at these movements. 
They reported that two English vessels had reached the Bay in 
1669 ;* and that in the succeeding winter there remained there 
two vessels and three barks.f M. Talon claimed that all these 
countries were long since (anciennement) discovered by the French; 
and he now commissioned St. Simon " to take renewed possession, 
in His Majesty's name, with orders to set up the escutcheon of 
France with which he is entrusted, and to draw up a f voces-ver- 
bal in the form I have furnished him." In 1661, Fatfier Claude 
Dablon had attempted to reach Hudson's Bay overland ;"■ but he 
succeeded in only reaching the head waters of- the Rekouba, 300 
miles from [above ?] Lake of St. John.| Talon, on hearing of the 
English vessels in Hudson's Bay, proposed to despatch a French 
vessel thither if he could find adventurers to go at their own ex- 
pense, and with the promise of some mark of distinction in case 
they succeeded. For the pecuniary outlay they Were expected to 
indemnify themselves by trading with the Indians — a practice 
not uncommon in French discoveries in those times. Indeed, as 
a general rule, the fur trade paid for everything. § Fur trading 

* Memoir by M. Talon to M. Colbert, Quebec, Nov. 10, 1670. 
+ M. Talon, Meinoir to the King, Quebec, Nov. 2, 1671. 

Note by O'Callaghan to the Paris documents, vol', ix. p. 97. 
§ Riverin. Mdmoire sur les congis defaire la traitedes pelleteries chez les nations sau- 
vages du Canada. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 5 

licenses were granted to enable the holders to discover new nations 
of Indians ; to form alliances and carry on commerce with them \ 
to take possession of distant countries in the name of the King; 
to oppose the efforts of the English for territorial expansion. 

By the year 1683, Louis XIV. had become fully alive to the 
importance of the trade of Hudson's Bay ; and in a letter to M. 
de la Barre, August 5, he said : " I recommend you to prevent 
as much as possible the English from establishing themselves in 
Hudson's Bay, possession whereof was taken in my name several 
years ago ; " and as he was aware that Col. Dongon, Governor of 
New York, had received special orders to be on good terms with 
the French in Canada, he thought the difficulties hitherto expe- 
rienced would not again appear. 

But things did not go well with the Canadian fur trade in the 
north. M. de la Barre, writing to M. Seignelay, Quebec, Nov. 
16, 1683, says: "The English of Hudson's Bay have this year 
attracted many of our Northern Indians, who have not this season 
come to Montreal." This year, a small French vessel returned 
from Hudson's Straits to Quebec. She had been two leagues north 
of the Bay, and brought back the men sent out the year before 
by order of Count de Frontenac. M. de la Barre was anxious to 
be informed whether the king would desire to maintain the post 
established there; for he had schemes of aiding the French, through 
DuL'Hut, overland from Lake Superior. The French, as admitted 
by English authorities,* had now made a settlement not above 
eight days' journey from the mouth of the Moose River. 

By this time the two parties came to blows. The English 
drove the French from their establishment on Fort Bourbon, f In 
the previous year, a company formed at Quebec had sent two ves- 
sels to Hudson's Bay. 

There is among the Paris documents a memoir, without 
date or signature, which recites what we know to be authen- 
tic, that, in 1627, the French King granted to the Company of 
the Hundred Associates the whole country up to the Arctic circle ; 

* (Oldmixon, The British Empire in America.) 

t (M. de Calliere to M. de Seignelay, without date, but apparently written in 1784. ) 



6 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

but the question arises on the grounds on which the king founded 
his title. The English claim, on the ground of Button's discovery, 
might well be considered to have lapsed by abandonment ; and 
the country was open to occupation by any nation that might 
have the enterprise to take possession of it.* But we do not find 
that the Company of the Hundred Associates entered on this part 
of their assumed domain. This memoir treats the Arctic circle as 
a natural boundary ; it was rather one which it would be easy to 
understand. But the French Government could hardly have seri- 
ously entertained the idea of claiming the whole country to the 
Arctic circle, because Champlain was alleged to have taken posses- 
sion of the Iroquois lands, when he ascended no higher than Lake 
Nipissing and Lake Huron. The ancient Register of the Council 
of New France, according to this memoir, records the fact that 
Jean Bourdon, in 1656, sailed along the coast of Labrador, with a 
vessel of thirty tons, and entered and took possession of the Bale 
du nord. The term is generally used as a substitute for Hudson's 
Bay ; but it may here mean a Bay on the north side of Hudson's 
Strait. It is stated that Couture, with five others, went to the 
head of the Bay. overland, and set up the king's arms engraved on 
copper. The order of the Governor, Sieur D'Avaugour, for 
these men to set out on this mission, is said to be in existence, 
and to be dated May 20, 1663, as well as certificates of those who 
went. Seven years later, the account goes on to say, St. Lusson 
was sent by the Intendant of Canada to Sault Ste. Marie, 
where seventeen Indian nations, coming the distance of a 
hundred leagues, voluntarily submitted themselves to the domin- 
ion of the French King. These seventeen nations are described as 
including the Ottawas, the Indians of Lakes Huron and Superior, of 
the whole northern country and of Hudson's Bay. An assemblage 
of Indians did undoubtedly take place at the place and time named, 
and the ceremony of taking possession was gone through, but what 
effect it could have on the right of France to Hudson's Bay is not 
so clear. The Hudson's Bay Company had been chartered the 

* Grotius. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 7 

year before ; and English vessels had, according to the French 
official statements referred to above, wintered in the Bay in 1669. 

This memoir resembles very closely, both in manner and argu- 
ment, those of the French Commissioners appointed to settle the 
boundary of Acadie, or Nova Scotia, in 1750. One of its arguments 
is that " The settlement made by the English at the head of North 
Bay does not give them any title, because it has already been re- 
marked that the French were in possession of those countries and 
had traded with the Indians of that Bay, which is proved still bet- 
ter by the knowledge the men named de Groiselier and Badison 
had of those parts where they introduced the English. They had 
traded thither, no doubt, with the old French cowreurs des bois. 
Besides, it is a thing unheard of that rebellious subjects could 
convey any right to countries belonging to their sovereign." If 
it were certain that the country around Hudson's Bay belonged 
to the French at this time, the argument founded on that alleged 
fact would be irresistible. In one sense, it is true that these rene- 
gade Frenchmen, who betrayed both parties in turn, introduced 
the English, but not in the sense of taking them to a country 
of which they had no previous knowledge. They showed certain 
Englishmen what they induced them to believe would prove a 
profitable venture, and the latter embarked in it from motives of 
gain ; but it remains true nevertheless that the English had a practi- 
cal knowledge of the geography and navigation of Hudson's Bay 
before it was attained by the French. Still it is a question 
whether they had not by neglect and abandonment forfeited any 
rights they might have derived from prior discovery. 

It might reasonably have been questioned whether the fact of 
the English establishing a trading post and port at one or two 
points on Hudson's Bay, a large inland sea, gave the man exclu- 
sive right to the whole Bay, to the prejudice of all other coloniz- 
ing and commercial nations, France especially, whose Canadian 
possessions were conterminous with those claimed by the English, 
if they did not include part of them. The English commissioners, 
on the Acadie boundary question denounced with just sever- 
ity the practice of " every pilot or admiral taking possession of a 



8 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 



vast tract of country he never saw, upon the pretence of having 
landed on a part of it." 

The year 1685 saw the formation of the Corapagnie du Nord,- 
with the sanction of the king. Denonville suggested that, if 
the king did not like to take ' in hand the expulsion of the Eng- 
lish from the Bay, he might help this company to do it by giving 
them a few vessels of 120 tons, well armed and equipped. A 
company of Canadian merchants could not hope to rival the 
wealth of a powerful English company. And in the semi-private 
war that was carried on, on the shores of Hudson's Bay, they lost in 
1682 a very large quantity of furs taken by the English, after 
the Canadian company's vessel had returned to Quebec. In 1688 
the English built a fort on James' Bay (au fond de la Baye du 
Nord), north of one occupied by the French. The Compagnie du 
Nord asked the assistance of the French Government in this 
emergency.* 

The Canadians were carrying on the contest against all the 
difficulties of land travel over hundreds of miles of wilderness. 
The Marquis de Denonville, writing on the 10th October, 1686, 
describes the route by Temiskamin and Abitibes as un chemin 
terrible, and so difficult that all that was possible for a war party 
to do was to carry sufficient provisions for the journey to the Bay 
and back ; that of Nemisco, by Tadousac, was believed to be 
more facile ; but it was admitted to be a long and painful route, 
rendered the more difficult by the obstruction of fallen trees 
which lay across a narrow river. It was estimated to be 250 
leagues from the post of Quichichouanne to Port Nelson ; and the 
road was not well known to Canadians by land, but they were 
determined that this ignorance should not stand in their way an- 
other year. Denonville says distinctly, il n'est pas practicable pour 
y porter des marchandises ; and that owing to the immense cost 
of carrying goods overland,, the commerce of the Bay could only 
be carried on with advantage by sea. And yet what was that 
commerce not worth ? The fattest beavers and the best furs 

* Mimoire de la Compagnie du Nord, Nov. 15, 1690. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 9 

were both found at the North. The French wished to exchange 
the fort on James' Bay for Fort Nelson, partly for this reason, 
and partly because it would enable them to stop the Indians who 
hunted on the borders of Lake Alenimipegois (Nipegon), who were 
in the habit of going to Quichichouanne, at the head of the Bay. 
So far the Compagnie du Nord had lost money. The furs taken 
from it by the English, under the guidance of Radison, were 
valued at a hundred thousand e'cus, without counting the profit 
it would have made on them. 

All this shows the vast importance attached by both coun- 
tries to the Straits and Bay of Hudson. 

This year, Nov. 6 (1686), a treaty of neutrality was concluded 
between Louis XIV. and James II. It stipulated for a firm peace, 
union, concord, and good understanding between the subjects of the 
two kings in America. No vessels of either sovereign were to be 
employed in attacking the subjects of the other in the colonies ; and 
no soldiers of either king stationed in these colonies were to engage 
in any such act of hostility, or to give aid or succour in men or pro- 
visions to savages at war with the other. The fourth article, as 
applied to Hudson's Bay, only helped to entangle matters still 
more : 

" IV. It has been agreed that each of the said kings shall hold 
the domains, rights, preeminences in the seas, straits and other 
waters of America to which, and in the same extent which of 
right belongs to them, and in the same manner in which they en- 
joy them at present." 

The French had then the Fort of Quichichouanne, on James' 
Bay, and the English had Fort Nelson. And it was agreed by 
the fifth article that the subjects of each king were to forbear to 
trade and fish in all places in America possessed by the other, 
whether havens, bays, creeks, roads, shoals or other places, under 
penalty of confiscation ; but the liberty of navigation was in no man- 
ner to be disturbed where nothing was done contrary to the genuine 
sense of the treaty. This seems to have given the French a 
right to navigate the Hudson's Bay. If not, how were they to 
enjoy the right of fishing, which must have been an incident of 



10 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

occupation in that part of the Bay in which they were estab- 
lished, and why was it provided that the right of navigation was 
not to be interfered with ? Individuals and companies composed 
of the subjects of either nation, who owned vessels, were for- 
bidden to do any injury to the subjects of the other on pain of 
being held liable for all damages so done, of having their property 
seized and their persons imprisoned. This prohibition included 
both the Compagnie du Nord and the Hudson's Bay Company. 
The captains of war vessels armed at the expense of private per- 
sons were to give bonds to make good damages which they might 
cause in contravention of the Treaty. The subjects of either king 
taking a commission in the army of any sovereign at war with 
the other was made an act of piracy. Disputes arising between 
the subjects of the two crowns, in the colonies, were not to be 
allowed to interrupt the peace, but were to be settled by those in 
authority on the spot ; and in case they could not decide, the dif- 
ferences were to be remitted at once to the two sovereigns for 
settlement. If war were to break out between the two crowns 
in Europe, it was not to interrupt the peace between their sub- 
jects in America. " But there shall always be a veritable and firm 
peace and neutrality between the said peoples of France and 
Great Britain, all the same as if the said rupture had not hap- 
pened in Europe." 

Next year commissioners were appointed to execute the above 
Treaty and to "regulate and terminate all the contestations and 
differences which have arisen or may arise between the subjects 
of the two crowns in America, as well as to fix the bounds or li- 
mits of the colonies, isles, lands and countries under the dominion 
of the two kings in America, governed by their commanders, or 
which are among their dependencies." M. Paul Barillon, coun- 
cillor of State and French Ambassador, and M. Francois Dusson 
deBonrepaus, were the commissioners for France; and Earls Sunder- 
land and Middleton and Sidney Lord Godolphin on behalf of Great 
Britain. They concluded a provisional Treaty in the name of their 
sovereigns, by which it was forbidden that till the 11th January, 
1689, N. S., and afterwards until the two sovereigns should give new 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 11 

and express orders in writing, " to all persons and to commanders or 
governors of the colonies, isles, lands and countries under the domi- 
nion of the two kings in America, to exercise any act of hostility 
against the subjects of one of the said kings, or to attack them, and 
the commandants or governors shall not allow, under any pretext 
whatever, that any violence shall be done them ; and in case of con- 
travention on the part of the said governors, they shall be punished 
and obliged in their own private names to make reparation for 
the damages that shall have been caused by such contravention." 

But the limits of the territories were not settled, and the peace 
of neutrality did not prove durable. On the 28th March, 1693, 
we find the French King, in a despatch sent to Canada, announc- 
ing his intention to send at once Iberville, with his vessel, the 
Poll, and one belonging to the Compagnie du Nord, to Hudson's 
Bay, to attack Fort Nelson.* A similar enterprise had been set 
on foot two years earlier — only five years after the famous Treaty 
of Neutrality — but M. de Tas, who was to have had charge of it, 
only arrived in Quebec on the 1st July, when the season was too 
far advanced. Next year, 1692, Iberville, with the king's vessel, 
the Poll, was to have gone with a fleet of trading vessels to the 
Bay ; but he did not arrive at Quebec till the 18th August, 
when it was too late to proceed. Under these circumstances, 
the members of the Compagnie du Nord called on the King to 
give them sufficient aid to render them masters of Fort Nelson, 
which the English had taken from them. It was represented as 
the only post left to the English on the Bay ; and it was said 
that on its possession the whole question of the trade of the Bay 
turned.-f- 

This year the Compagnie du Nord sent another letter to the 
same address, in which they stated they were ruined ; having 
suffered greatly by the necessity of carrying on the war against 
the English Company, by whom Port Nelson had been taken 
from them, in a time of peace, with 400,000 livres of effects. It 

* Lettre de M. de Frontenac et Champigny, August 7, 1G93. 

t Lettre de la Compagnie du Nord du Canada a Monseigneur de Pontchartrain. 



s 



12 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

appears by this letter that the Compagnie du Nord had sent a vessel 
off Fort Neuve Savanne, Hudson's Bay, in 1690, which Fort was 
burnt by its English owners, with everything therein, rather than 
allow it to fall into the hands of the French ; a fact which shows 
that the Treaty of Neutrality broke down on the occurrence of a 
rupture between the two nations in Europe, though its special 
object had been to keep the American colonies free from European 
entanglements. Fort Neuve Savanne, thus burnt, according to 
orders given in anticipation of the appearance of the French, was 
rebuilt the next year ; the Quebec Company not being in a condi- 
tion to prevent the restoration, or to occupy the post on its tem- 
porary abandonment by the English. This letter ended with the 
same declaration as the preceding, by saying that everything now 
depended on driving the English from Fort Nelson ; and an appeal 
was made to France to render the necessary assistance. 

The French sent four vessels of war to Hudson's Bay, and the 
first of them, the Pelican, arrived in view of Fort Nelson on the 3rd 
September, 1697, and was followed by the Palmier, the Weesph, 
and the Profound. Fort Nelson, after a bombardment, fell into 
the hands of the French.* During the war the English took 
some places from the French, on the Bay. 

In the same year, the Treaty of Ryswick restored whatever 
had been taken by either nation from the other during the war ; 
and it provided for the appointment of commissioners on both 
sides, "to examine and determine the rights and pretensions which 
either of the said kings hath to. the places situated in Hudson's 
Bay ; but the possession of those places which were taken by the 
French during the peace that preceded the present war, and were 
retaken by the English during this present war, shall be left to 
the French by virtue of the foregoing article." The terms of the 
capitulation of Fort Nelson were to be observed, the merchandize 
restored, and the prisoners set at liberty ; the value of the goods 
lost was to be adjudicated and determined. The commissioners 
were to be invested with sufficient authority for settling the limits 

* Voyage de VAmerique, par la Potherie, an eye-witness. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO, 13 

and confines of the lands restored on either side.* The French 
claims under this Treaty were put in this shape : " Reciprocal 
pretensions of the French and the English over the Colonies. 
Countries taken by the English in the time of peace : Fort Bour- 
bon on Hudson's Bay; the French drove the English out in 1685 ; 
the English retook it in 1690. The Fort to be given up by the 
English. Taken by the French in the time of peace : the two 
Forts on the south part of Hudson's Bay, of which the English 
were remitted the possession during the war."-(- 

This ignores the retaking by the French of Fort Nelson in 
1697. If, as by these accounts appear, this Fort was three times 
taken during the war, the duty of restitution would surely lie 
with the nation that took it first, if it remained in possession ; if 
it did not, there would be nothing to restore. If the above as- 
sumptions were allowed, France would win in any case. 

The limits were not settled ; and the Lords of Trade interpreted 
the Treaty against the French, in 1700, as not implying "any 
extent of territory more than the places so taken and possessed." 
This Treaty, so far as it has any bearing on the subject, may be 
appealed to in the present question of the northern boundary of 
Ontario ; for it is among those restored and confirmed by the 
Treaty of 1763. Though there is no longer a question of deter- 
mining rival pretensions on Hudson's Bay, the restrictions as to 
space which the restorations of places conveyed, in the opinion of 
the Lords of Trade, may fairly be appealed to. Of the other 
treaties similarly restored and confirmed, the Treaty of Utrecht 
is one which has a most direct bearing on this question ; and on 
it the whole question of our northern boundary seems to turn. 
It is, therefore, important to follow every step in the negotiations 
preceding the peace of 1713. 

From first to last, England insisted on the restoration of the 
Bay and Straits of Hudson ; not that France should renounce the 
right for ever of discovering or occupying lands hundreds of miles 
in the interior. 

* See the Treaty of Ryswick, printed by authority in England. 1697. 
f Correspondance officielle relative au Gouvernement du Canada. 



14 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

The particular demands of Great Britain were formed into eight 
articles, which M. Mesnager transmitted to his Court, and received 
thence new powers, by which he was enabled to give the king's 
consent by way of answers, which were to be binding only after 
a general peace. The eighth article, relating to Hudson Bay, was 
in these terms : — 

" Newfoundland and the Bay and Straits of Hudson shall be en- 
tirely restored to the English ; and Great Britain and France shall 
respectively keep whatever dominions in North America each of 
them shall be in possession of when the ratification of this Treaty 
shall be published in those parts of the world." 

The demands, with the answers of the French King, were drawn 
up and signed by M. Mesnager and the Queen's two principal 
Secretaries of State. In the preamble the French King sets forth : 
" That being particularly informed, by the last memorial which 
the British Ministers presented to M. Mesnager, of the dispositions 
of this crown to facilitate a general peace to the satisfaction of the 
several parties concerned ; and his Majesty finding in effect, as the 
said memorial declares, that he runs no hazard by engaging him- 
self in the manner there expressed, and the preliminary articles will 
be of no force until the signing of the general peace ; and being 
sincerely desirous to advance to the utmost of his power the re- 
pose of Europe, especially by a way so agreeable as the interposi- 
tion of a princess whom so many ties of blood ought to unite to 
him, and whose sentiments for the public tranquillity cannot be 
doubted ; his Majesty, moved by these considerations, has ordered 
M. Mesnager, knight, etc., to give the following answers in writing 
to the articles in the memorial transmitted to him, entitled 
" Preliminary Demands for Great Britain." 

The French King consented to allow the articles relating to 
Hudson's Bay to be referred to the general conferences of the 
peace ; but attached to it a condition respecting the fisheries of 
Newfoundland. " The discussion of this article," the answer ran, 
" shall be referred to the general conferences of the peace, provided 
the liberty of fishing and drying cod fish upon the Isle of New- 
foundland be reserved to th French." Petitot and Monmerique 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 15 

say that this was done by a private clause separate from the 
memoir ;* but the statement is not confirmed by Bolingbroke, or 
Prior, or Swift, in his History of the Four Last Years of Queen 
Anne. 

The instructions of the Queen to the Bishop of Bristol and the 
Earl of Stafford, the British plenipotentiaries who went to 
Utrecht to treat of a general peace, were dated Dec. 11, 1711, and 
were very specific on the article of Hudson's Bay and Straits : 
" As to our interests in the north parts of America, you are to be 
particularly careful, and to demand, in the first place, the restora- 
tion of the Bay and Straits of Hudson, together with such further 
security for the trade as you shall be able to obtain." This in- 
struction was in accord with the preliminary demands previously 
made ; both were confined to the " Bay and Straits of Hudson." 
This was eight months after England had refused the proposed 
alternatives offered by France ; by one of which an exchange of 
places held respectively by the two crowns on Hudson's Bay was 
proposed, and both of which proposed to leave France a footing 
on that sea. England rejected both, and persisted in her demand 
for the whole of the Bay and Straits ; not for an unknown and 
illimitable extent of country connected with them. These waters 
and the trade that centred on them were the great objects of de- 
sire ; the possession of the waters was desired because it insured 
the trade, and if any additional securities could be taken for the 
trade they were to be demanded. But there was no thought of 
asking the whole country to the unknown Rocky Mountains ; 
such a flight of imagination would have been impossible to men 
intent on the serious business of negotiating a general peace. 

St. John, Secretary of State, in a letter (written in French) to 
M. de Torcy, May 24, O.S., 1712, communicated the proposals of 
the Queen for bringing to an end all disputes that had arisen in 
North America. One of these proposals was, in fact, an impera- 
tive demand : " The Queen insists on having the cannon and the 
munitions of war in all the forts and places in the Bay and Straits 

* Mtmoires du Marquis de Torcy 



16 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

of Hudson." It coul 1 .lot have been the value of the cannon 
that dictated this demand ; it was a measure of precaution and a 
moans of giving security to the English trade on Hudson's Bay. 
The French King consented, par une consideration particuliere 
pour la Reine de la Grande Br •etagne, to leave her the cannon and 
munitions of war, " notwithstanding the strong reasons he might 
have had for transporting them elsewhere." 

On a proposal of the French it was agreed that, after the con- 
clusion of peace, commissioners on behalf of both countries should 
be appointed, within a year, "to fix the limits between Can 
ada or New France on the one side, and Acadie and Hudson's 
Bay on the other ; as well as amicably to settle all just and 
reasonable claims, by one side and the other, for wrongs offered 
contrary to the rights of peace and war ; " and after the line had 
once been determined, the subjects of the two crowns should be 
forbidden to cross it by land or sea, " or to molest the Indian 
nations who are allies or who have made their submission to either 
crown." The French plenipotentiaries, in their dispatch of April 
18, 1712, say that "Lord Bolingbroke agreed to forbid the sub- 
jects of France and England to pass the limits when they have 
been fixed." 

In this dispatch the French plenipotentiaries show the import- 
ance England attached to the possession of the Bay and Straits 
of Hudson. . They report that they had made all the efforts in 
their power to regain Acadie, or at least to retain Newfoundland; 
but that they had found it absolutely impossible to succeed. The 
English plenipotentiaries " protested a hundred times that they 
had express orders to break up the whole negotiations (de tout 
rompre) rather than give way on one point or the other, as well 
as on that on the Strait and Bay of Hudson, where they even in- 
sist that all the cannon must remain to them." This the French 
plenipotentiaries say they would not have believed if it had not 
been confirmed by M. Gautier. 

Queen Anne, in announcing to Parliament, June 6, 1713, the 
conditions of the peace, said : " Our interest is so deeply concerned 
in the trade of North America that T have used my utmost en- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 17 

•deavours to adjust that article in the most beneficial manner. 
France consents to restore to us the whole Bay and Straits of 
Hudson ; to deliver up Newfoundland, with Placentia, and to 
make an absolute cession of Annapolis, with the rest of Nova 
Scotia or Acadia." 

Between the conclusion of the Treaty and the opening of the 
Session the Hudson's Bay Company had thanked the Queen " for 
the great care your Majesty has taken for them by the Treaty of 
Utrecht, whereby the French are obliged to restore the whole 
Bay and Straits of Hudson, the undoubted right of the Crown 
of Great Britain." 

To obtain the whole Bay and Straits had almost become a 
tradition of English policy. The commissioners appointed to treat 
with the French in 1685, the Earl of Sunderland, the Earl of 
Middleton and Lord Godolphin, reported as their opinion " that 
it plainly appears your Majesty and your Majesty's subjects have 
a right to the whole Bay and Straits of Hudson, and to the whole 
trade thereof." Then followed His Majesty's decision thereon. 
" His Majesty, upon the whole matter, did conceive the said 
company well founded in their demands, and therefore did insist 
upon his own right, and the right of his subjects, to the whole 
Bay and Straits of Hudson and to the trade thereof." 

It is evident from the foregoing that in all the negotiations 
between the two crowns, at different epochs, the British Govern- 
ment and plenipotentiaries had in view only to secure the 
restoration of the Bay and Straits of Hudson ; and that they did 
not seek to get possession of an immense stretch of continent, of 
which the interior and extent were unknown to them, and to 
which the terra " restitution " could in no wise apply. 

When, during the negotiations for the peace of Utrecht, the 
projected article regulating the northern boundary of Canada was 
drawn up, it was found to contain expressions which alarmed the 
French Minister. Mr. Prior, who had been chosen from the first 
to assist in the negotiations, and who was then at Paris, stated in 
a letter to Lord Bolingbroke, January 8, 1713, the nature of the 

2 



18 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

difficulty and the guarantee he had given with a view of overcom- 
ing it : 

" As to the limits of Hudson's Bay, what the Ministry here seem 
to apprehend, at least in virtue of the expression, tout ce que VAngle- 
terre a jamais possede de ce cote la, which they assert to be wholly 
new, and which I think is really so, since our plenipotentiaries 
make no mention of it, may give us occasion to encroach at any 
time upon their dominions in Canada ; I have answered that 
since, according to the carte which came from our plenipotentiaries, 
marked with the extent of what was thought our dominion, and 
returned by the French with what they judged the extent of 
theirs, there was no very great difference, and that the parties 
who determined that difference must be guided by the same carte ; 
I thought that article would admit no dispute, in case it be either 
determined immediately by the plenipotentiaries, or referred to 
commissaires. I take leave to add to your Lordship that these 
limitations are no otherwise advantageous or prejudicial to Great 
Britain than as we are better or worse with the Indians, and that 
the whole is a matter rather of industry than dominion." * 

M. de Torcy-f* corroborates the above statement : 

" The plenipotentiaries of Great Britain insist that it shall be 
expressed, that the French shall restore, not only what has been 
taken from the English, but also all that England ever possessed 
in that quarter. This new clause differs from the plan, and would 
be a source of perpetual difficulties, but to avoid them, the King 
has sent to his plenipotentiaries the same map of North America 
as had been furnished by the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain. 
His Majesty has caused to be drawn upon the map a line which 
described the boundaries in such a manner as he has reason to be- 
lieve it will be no difficult matter to agree on this point, on both 
sides. 

u If, however, there should be any obstacle which the plenipo- 
tentiaries cannot remove, the decision must be referred to com- 

* Letters and Correspondence of Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, Vol. iii. , pp. 265-6 : from 
Monsieur Prior, Jan. 7, 1713. 
+ Mimoire pour Monsieur Prior, Jan. 7, 1713. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 19 

missaires to be named for the adjustment of the boundaries in 
America." 

We have no description of the lines traced on this map in words; 
but they probably did not extend far south of the Bay. The long 
and bloody contest between the two nations for the possession of 
Hudson's Bay was sustained by a desire of the French to have ac- 
cess to the water, and the determination of the English to exclude 
them from it. The truth is, as we have seen, the fur trade of the 
distant north could only be carried on with profit by water. To 
Quebec or Three Rivers, forty beaver skins made a canoe load. 
When the English were taken to Hudson's Bay by two French 
refugees, they went by water. A canoe load of northern furs was 
worth six of southern.* 

Prior seems to apologize for the limited demands the British 
had made, as indicated by the line on their map. " I take leave to 
add," he says, u to your Lordship that these limitations are not 
otherwise advantageous or prejudicial to Great Britain, than as 
we are better or worse with the native Indians, and that the whole 
is a matter rather of industry than dominion ;" that is, it was not 
the extent of territory that was of consequence but the trade, of 
which the development would depend upon the degree of activity 
exerted and the success obtained in securing the friendship and 
good will of the Indians. 

The right of Mr. Prior to give a promise that, in case of dispute 
about this boundary, the map with the two lines marked on it 
would be the guide of those entrusted with the settlement, will not, 
I apprehend, be disputed. Though not one of the British pleni- 
potentiaries, he took a prominent part in the negotiations. Louis 
XIV. settled at least one point with him. In a letter to the 
French plenipotentiaries, Feb. 9, 1713, he says : L article de Terre- 
neuve est regie suivant la proposition concertee avee le Sieur 
Prior. Prior accompanied St. John (Lord Bolingbroke) to Paris ; 
and when the latter returned he remained there and kept up a 
constant correspondence with him on the subject of the nego- 

* Mtmoire pour V Uablissernent du commerce de Canada, par Delino, 



20 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

tiations. The Secretary of State received from him the announce- 
ment of the guarantee he had given in reference to the map as a 
matter of course. Prior's business in Paris is stated by Swift to have 
been " to adjust whatever differences might remain or arise be- 
tween the two Crowns." And Lord Bolingbroke, in a letter to 
M. de Torcy, Nov. 1712, O. S., after remarking that the difference 
n the proposals that had been made, on one side and the other, 
was considerable only on two articles, that of North America and 
commerce, says : " Mr. Prior will canvass these points with you, 
and I confine myself to praying you to agree with him on some 
expedient, in order that the Ministers at Utrecht, having no occa- 
sion for disagreement, may unanimously concur in causing the 
others to share their pacific sentiments." 

The existence of the map referred to by Mr. Prior had been over- 
looked till I, in the course of this investigation, came upon the 
facts. Nor is this the only instance of a map used in the nego- 
tiations of Utrecht being forgotten, even in a very short time after 
the event. That Treaty gave France certain rights of fishery, the 
extent of which depended on the position of Point Rich, New- 
foundland. The British Ministry, in 1764, contended, on the au- 
thority of a letter from Prior and a petition of the English fisher- 
men in 1716, that Point Rich ought to be placed in 50° 30' 
north latitude. The Council of Louis XIV. accepted the author- 
ity ; but they afterwards discovered a manuscript map, which had 
been used in the negotiations, and which placed Point Rich in 49 
deg. The difference between the two crowns reappeared on this 
discovery, and was not settled before war broke out again. If 
this map had been found in time, its authority would not neces- 
sarily have been held above dispute; for there had been no under- 
standing that it was to be accepted as a guide in any dispute that 
might arise. The incident shows the importance of not overlook- 
ing, in questions of the kind, any maps that may have been used 
with the consent of both parties, in the negotiations of a Treaty.* 

There are cases in which where a certain map has been made use 

* Raynal : Histoire Philosophique et Politique des ttablissemens des Europe'cns dans 
les deux Indes. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 21 

of in treaty negotiations, although it was not understood that any 
differences that might arise would be settled by reference to it, it 
has been regarded as evidence of the intentions of the parties to 
the Treaty. And this has been the case, even though the map 
proved to be incorrect in some minor particulars. 

The Earl of Aberdeen took this ground in the north-eastern 
boundary question. Writing to Lieutenant-Colonel Escourt, the 
British Commissioner for tracing that boundary, March 31, 1843, 
he said : 

" There is good reason for supposing that the lake designated 
in the Treaty as the Lake Pohenagomook, does not in reality bear 
that name, but a lake near the mouth of the St. Francis seems to 
be known by a somewhat similar appellation. The lake, however, 
intended by the Treaty is so clearly laid down in the map of the 
United States' Surveyors, Ren wick, Graham and Talcot, which 
was before the negotiators at the time of the signature, and on 
which they caused the line of boundary intended by them to be 
generally traced, that no mistake can well occur on that point. 
That map, although not to be taken as an authentic document 
attached to the Treaty, must nevertheless be considered as gener- 
ally indicating the intentions of the negotiators ; and may always 
be appealed to as general evidence of those intentions. By con- 
sulting the copy of it which is here attached, you will at once 
perceive the position of the lake intended by the negotiators of 
the treaty." 

The case here under consideration is one in which a certain map 
had been used by the negotiators of a treaty, and on which they 
had drawn a line to indicate that on which they were agreeing. 
But the map was not attached to the treaty, it was not signed by 
the negotiators, and they did not specifically agree to settle any dif- 
ference that might arise on the actual location of the boundary by 
reference to it, as in the case of that used at Utrecht. 

The 9th Article of the General Plan of Peace became the 10th 
Article of the Treaty of Utrecht; and the original projet of arti- 
cle, mentioned by Prior, seems to have undergone a modification 
of some words. The article, as projected at the time the lines 



•2-?. UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

were marked on the map, I have nowhere been able to find. But 
the words to which the French took exception, according to the 
report of Mr. Prior, implied that they should restore " not only 
what has been taken from the English, but, also, all that Eng- 
land ever possessed in that quarter." For these words the 
Treaty substituted the stipulation, that the Most Christian King 
should restore to Great Britain " the Bay and Straits of Hudson, 
together with all the lands, seas, seacoasts, rivers and places situ 
ated in the said Bay and Straits, and which belong thereto, no 
tracts of land or sea being excepted which are at present pos- 
sessed by the subjects of France." 

This change of wording cannot be said materially to affect the 
sense ; though it introduced greater propriety of expression. 
France could restore only what she had " taken from England " ; 
she might cede what England had never possessed, if she were 
herself in possession of it. But the question always presented 
itself as one of restoration, not of cession. What was de- 
manded, at first, was that France should restore everything Eng- 
land had ever possessed in that quarter : finally, she agreed to 
restore everything ; Bays, Straits, Coasts, Rivers. This alteration 
of terms, while the substance remained the same, could not affect 
the lines the authorities of each country had traced on the map. 
These lines i^epresented respectively the full claim of each country. 
The alteration of the wording did not introduce any greater defi- 
niteness as to where the line of boundary was to be drawn. The 
chief difference was that the word " rivers " had been included 
among the things France was to restore. The reasons for this may 
be discovered by an examination of the facts. 

At the time the Treaty was signed, France was in occupation of 
Fort Bourbon, on the Ste. Therese (Hay's) River ; a fort commanded 
by M. Jeremie, an officer regularly commissioned by the French 
Government. This fort appears to have been built at the mouth 
of the river; though Jeremie tells us that M. de Groiseliers had, 
many years previously, erected an establishment three leagues up 
the river, on an island on the south side ; and that he had taken 
another establishment from the English seven leagues up the River 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO 23 

Bourbon (Nelson). The establishment situated seven leagues up 
the Nelson River, which M. de Groiseliers took from the English, 
1697, does not seem to have been in existence at the Peace of 
Utrecht ; for we find no account of its being delivered up ; but 
the fact of its having once existed would help to explain why the 
English wished at first to include in the proposed restoration 
everything that England had ever possessed in that quarter. The 
restoration must in its nature be confined to what England had at 
some previous time possessed, and what France had taken from 
her. The most distant point at which the English had previ- 
ously established themselves inland, was twenty-one miles up 
the Nelson River ; and that distance limits the extent of country 
which it was possible for France to restore to England. This 
view was taken by the Board of Trade and Plantations, on a pre- 
vious occasion, when the restitution of places England had taken 
from France, on Hudson Bay, was stipulated for. The Board of 
Trade and Plantations being called to give their opinion on the 
certain alternatives proposed by the French, said : 

" The proposal for settling the limits between the English and 
French in Hudson Bay, [that was, between one post and another] 
is groundless ; for by the late treaty of (Ryswick) peace, art. 8, the 
only right reserved to the French in Hudson Bay is in relation to 
those places which were taken from the English by the French, 
during the peace that preceded the late war, and retaken from 
them by the English during the said war, which cannot imply any 
extent of territory more than the places so taken and possessed." 

This representation of the facts is not quite accurate. The re- 
storation was stipulated for not in the VHIth but in the VII th 
article of the Treaty of Ryswick, 1697, and is in these words : 

" The Most Christian King shall restore to the said King of 
Great Britain all the Countries, Islands, Ports and Colonies, where- 
soever situated, which the English did possess before the declara- 
tion of the present war, and in like manner the King of Great Bri- 
tain shall restore to the most Christian King all Countries, Islands, 
Forts and Colonies, wheresoever situated, which the French did 
possess before the declaration of war." 



24 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

The VI Ilth article, to which the Lords of Trade and Planta- 
tions referred, instead of containing the stipulation for the mutual 
restoration of places taken, merely provides for the appointment 
of commissioners " to examine and determine the rights and pre- 
tensions which either of the said kings hath to the places situated 
in Hudson Bay," and directs them in the execution of their duty. 
The VHth article directs the restoration of " all Countries, 
Islands, Forts and Colonies wheresoever situated ; " and it is ex- 
pressly stated to be in virtue of this article that " the possession 
of those places (in Hudson's Bay) which were taken from the 
French during the peace that preceded the present war, and were 
retaken during this war, shall be left to the French." The restor- 
ation here provided for is as full and ample as that other restora- 
tion under the Treaty of Utrecht ; and the Lords of Trade and 
Plantations were of opinion that it " cannot imply any extent 
of territory more than the places so taken and possessed." 
Neither, by the same rule, can the restoration under the Treaty of 
Utrecht. 

M. Gallisonniere, in 1750, took precisely this ground. "The 
term restitution," he said, "which has been used in the Treaty (of 
Utrecht), conveys the idea clearly that the English can claim only 
what they have possessed, and as they never had but a few estab- 
lishments on the sea coast, it is evident that the interior of the 
country is considered as belonging to France.* And more espe- 
cially he said of Canada : " Its description will begin at the north 
and with Hudson's Bay, which bounds it on that side." 

For the same reason, no argument can be drawn from the sti- 
pulations of the Treaty of St. Germain, 1632. England under- 
took " to give up and restore to his Most Christian Majesty all the 
places occupied by British subjects in New France, Acadie and 
Canada (tous les lieux occupes en la Nouvelle France, l' Acadie <t 
Canada, par les swjets de Sa Majeste de la Grande Breiagne). 

It has sometimes been alleged that France obtained Hudson's 
Bay from England by this Treaty. What she obtained was all the 

* Memoir on the French Colonies in America. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 25 

places in the countries named, which were occupied by British 
subjects. Hudson's Bay was not so occupied by England ; and if 
it had been — there was one English voyage made there the very 
year this Treaty was concluded — it would not have been held that 
it had been taken from France, for France had never been in pos- 
session of it. These were two conclusive reasons why it could 
not be "restored " to France by the Treaty of St Germain. 

In the case of Acadie, there was an actual restoration. Though 
Acadie was restored to France by the Treaty of St. Germain, in 
1632, without any delineation of limits, France actually took pos- 
session of the whole country, from Pentagoet to the River St. 
Lawrence, in consequence of that Treaty.* But she certainly did 
not take possession cf Hudson's Bay. 

The text of that part of the Treaty of Utrecht which refers 
to the restoration of the Straits and Bay of Hudson reads : 

Art. X. Dictus Rex Christianissimus, sinum et f return de 
Hudson, una cum omnibus terris, maribus,oris maritimis )t fluviis, 
locisque in dicto sinu et freto sitis, ad eadem spectantibus nullis 
sive terrce sive marsi spatiis exceptis, quce a subditis Gallice im- 
prcesentiarum possessa sunt regno et regince Magnm Britannice 
plenojure in perpetuum possidenda restituet. 

The following translation of Articles X. and XL is from the 
copy printed by authority, in England, in 1713 : 

Art. X. The said Most Christian King shall restore to the King- 
dom and Queen of Great Britain, to be possessed in full right for 
ever, the Bay and Straits of Hudson, together with all lands, seas, 
sea coasts, rivers, and places situate in the said Bay and Straits, 
and which belong thereunto, no tracts of lands or of sea being 
excepted, which are at present possessed by the subjects 
of France. All which, as well as any buildings there made, in the 
condition they now are, and likewise all fortresses there erected, 
either before or since the French seized the same, shall, within six 
months from the ratification of the present treaty, or sooner, if 
possible, be well and truly delivered to British subjects, having a 
commission from the Queen of Great Britain to demand and re- 

* Reply of the English Commissioners. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

ceive the same, entire and undemolished, together with all the can- 
non and cannon ball which are therein, as also a quantity of powder, 
if any there be found in proportion to the cannon ball, and with 
the other provisions of war usually belonging to cannon. It is 
however provided, that it may be entirely free to the Company of 
Quebec, and all other subjects of the Most Christian King whatso- 
ever, to go by land or by sea, whithersoever they please, out of the 
lands of said Bay, together with all their goods, merchandize, arms 
and effects of what nature or condition soever, except such things as 
are above reserved in this article. But it is agreed on both sides 
to determine within a year, by commissioners to be forthwith 
• named by each party, the limits which are to be fixed between 
the said Bay of Hudson and the places appertaining to the French, 
which limits both the British and French subjects shall be wholly 
forbid to pass over, or thereby to go to each other by sea or land 
The same commissioners shall also have orders to describe and 
settle, in like manner, the boundaries between the other British 
and French colonies in those parts. 

" XI. The above mentioned Most Christian King shall take care 
that satisfaction be given according to the rule of justice and 
equity, to the English company trading to the Bay of Hudson, for all 
damages and spoil done to their colonies, ships, persons and goods, 
by the hostile incursions and depredations of the French, in time 
of peace, an estimate being made thereof by commissioners to be 
named at the requisitions of each party. The same commissioners 
shall moreover inquire as well into the complaints of British subjects 
concerning ships taken by the French in time of peace as also con- 
cerning the damages sustained last year in the Island called Mont- 
serat, and others, as into those things of which the French subjects 
complain, relating to capitulation in the Island of Nevis, and Castle 
of Gambia, also to French ships, if perchance any such have been 
taken by British subjects in time of peace ; and in like manner 
into all disputes of this kind which shall be found to have arisen 
between both nations, and which are not yet ended ; and due jus- 
tice shall be done on both sides without delay." 

If the word " restitution" only had been used, the addition of 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 27 

rivers and tracts of land might have led to some obscurity. But 
this is prevented by limiting the restitution to things which are 
at present possessed by the subjects of France. Restitution could 
in any case extend no further ; but this specific limit may prevent 
some cavilling. France was to restore or give back to Great 
Britain the Bay and Straits of Hudson, together with all lands, 
seas and sea coasts, rivers and places situated in that Bay* and 
those Straits, and which belonged thereto without exception. This 
would carry the Islands in the Bay and Straits and the tracts 
of lands and rivers along the coast on which the French posts 
were situated. The French had a post or fort at the mouth of the 
Nelson River, a post which had previously been in possession of 
the English. This they were to restore, with whatever extent of 
land they possessed, and which the English had possessed before, 
together with the river as possessed by them, and as it had before 
been possessed by the English. This river has a course, 
under one name and aaother, of over seventeen hundred miles. Tt 
could not have been intended that France should undertake to 
deliver this river, in its whole extent, to England. Both 
nations were then ignorant of the extent of this river. It was 
not till fifteen years afterwards that the French, who preceded 
the English by many years in discoveries in the West, heard from 
Indians, vague stories about the lands and waters of the West, 
much of which we know to be fabulous : of a great lake with 
three discharges : an invented source of the Columbia, the Mis- 
sippi and the Mackenzie Rivers ; of Indians who made houses in 
the earth for want of wood, which might have stood for a descrip- 
tion of the Mandans, if their country had been placed at the 
mouth of a river flowing into the Western Ocean ; of a race of 
men only ten days' march from Lake Nipigon, three feet high, and 
of another race farther on who speak like the French ; of a bril- 
liant mountain, held in respect and renown by the Indians, which 
shines day and night.* 

These stories, which contain more of the fabulous than the real, 

* Mimoire du Sieur de la Verandrye. 



28 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

continued to be repeated for some years ; and it was not till thirty- 
nine years after the Treaty of Utrecht that French discoverers had 
sifted what was true from what was false. Could the govern- 
ment of one nation undertake to deliver these countries to another 
in 1713 ; and to do so under the name of restitution ? The very 
statement of the question is a sufficient answer. 

There is nothing in the account given by J eremie, who had had 
command of Fort Nelson six years at the Peace of Utrecht, of the 
country on the west shore of Hudson's Bay, to induce the belief 
that the French had, at that time, penetrated westward as far as 
Winnipeg. It is quite certain, I think, from all he says, that they 
had not ; that their knowledge of the upper country was derived 
from the Indians. He says the first great lake through which the 
Therese (the Hayes) river passes — there is no great lake in fact — 
is called by the Indians Patusquonan Secalugan, which signifies 
the Lake of Forts, in which discharges a river called Quissiquatch- 
iouen, or swift water. There is nothing in the geography of the 
whole country between Hudson's Bay and the Rocky Moun- 
tains which answers the following description : " The River 
Quissiquatchiouen has its source in a lake called Michinipi, or 
great water, because it is the largest and deepest of all the lakes 
and is over 600 leagues round. It receives several rivers, some 
of which connect with the Danish river " [which empties into 
Hudson's Bay, at the north-east]. Jeremie's knowledge of the 
geography of Hayes River was tolerably correct. He describes it 
as dividing into two at a distance of twenty leagues from the 
Fort ; which is near enough the truth, and says that most of the 
Indians came down the Nelson to where there is a communication 
between it and the Hayes : which is also correct. And he adds 
that, twenty leagues above the first fork, another comes from the 
south, which the Indians call Guiche' Mataouang or Grande 
Fourche ; and that it communicates with the River L'Huiles, which 
enters the sea a hundred leagues south of Fort Bourbon. He says 
the western branch is not of great extent, in which he is speaking 
comparatively — he is certainly wrong — and he says it divides into 
several little creeks where it has its source ; which there is reason 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 29 

to believe is correct. Of the country west of this point he evi- 
dently knows nothing. Jeremie's opportunities for obtaining a 
knowledge of the geography of this part of the country were better 
than that of any other Frenchman ; and what he did not know, 
none of them could have known. 

The French could not be said to be in possession of countries 
they had never seen; and they were to restore to the English only 
what they were in possession of. If they were in possession of 
only the mouth of the Nelson River, they could not deliver up 
the Saskatchewan, of which probably they did not even know 
the name, unless as the Quissiquatchiouen ; and of that the des- 
cription certainly does not fit. 

But the Treaty itself fully bears out the idea that the English 
boundaries were to be restricted to a line at or near Hudson's 
Bay ; for it provides for the appointment of Commissioners to mark 
out " the limits which are to be fixed between the said Bay of 
Hudson and the places appertaining to the French ;" not be- 
tween the waters that run into Hudson's Bay and those that 
run in some other direction ; not even between Hudson's Bay and 
Canada, but, between "Hudson's Bay and the places appertaining to 
the French;" places which might possibly not be included in the 
term Canada ; of which the application was, for a long time, very 
restricted. 

Commissioners to settle the boundaries were not appointed within 
the time specified, andnot for many years afterwards. Commissioners 
were appointed under the IXth Article of the Treaty of Navigation 
an 1 Commerce, early in 1714, the instructions of the English Com- 
missioners bearing date February 14, 1714. The question of bound- 
aries was raised ; but the French Commissioners on the 13th May 
stated that they had no authority to deal with it. 

Plans for preventing the descent of the Indians to the Hudson 
Bay Company's posts from the first formed a chief feature of 
the French policy. This resource was more than ever necessary 
to them after they had lost their posts on Hudson's Bay by 
the Treaty of Utrecht. Accordingly we find the Hudson Bay 
Company, in August 1719, complaining of the establishment 



30 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

by the French, in 1715, of a settlement at the head of Albany River, 
at the month of which the Company's principal post, as they chose 
to call it, (the old Fort of Chichitouan, or Quichechouanne) was 
situated. They therefore asked that a boundary line overland 
might " be drawn so as to exclude the French from coming any- 
where to the northward of the line 49°, except on the coast of 
Labrador ;" and they added, " unless this be done, the Company's 
factories at the bottom of Hudson's Bay cannot be secured or their 
trade preserved." The French Government, by a curious coinci- 
dence, brought this question, through its Ambassador at London, 
before the British Government, and in October the intelligence of 
the proposal to appoint Commissioners had been received in Cana- 
da with great satisfaction,* for the Canadians, on their side, com- 
plained of English encroachments on another part of the country. 
The English Commissioners were instructed to " take special care 
in wording such articles as shall be agreed upon with the Com- 
missioners of his Most Christian Majesty upon this head, that the 
said boundaries be understood to regard the trade of Hudson's 
Bay only." Was this in pursuance of the policy which the Lords 
of Trade, in 1768, declared to be that by which England regulated 
its conduct in America ? " The policy has been," they said, " to 
confine the settlements as much as possible to the sea coasts, 
and not to extend them to places unaccessible to shipping and 
more out of the reach of commerce." Did England, always 
ready to struggle with France for the possession of the coasts of 
Hudson's Bay, practically discourage collision with the French in 
the interior of the country where her fleets could not reach ? 

Three years after the Hudson's Bay Company had complained 
of the existence of the French Fort at the head of the Albany 
river as an encroachment, the French King made known his in- 
tention, through Vaudreuil (September 1722), to restrict the post 
of Temiscamigue within what were called its natural limits; to 
the lands watered by the River Temiscamigue [the Ottawa 
river above the Matawan formerly bore this name] and others that 

* Lettre de MM, de Vaudreuil et Begon, Octobre 26, 1719. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 31 

discharged therein, without including the lands either above or 
below that river.* 

This appears to have led to an adjudication on the subject of 
the limits of this post; it is certain that there was such an adju- 
dication. A memoir of Begon, October 20, 1725, describes the 
ancient limits of Temiscamigue to be : " On the front, from and 
comprising the River du Lievre, which discharges into the Grand 
River of the Ottawa, on the north side as far as comprising Lake 
Nipissingue, and in depth to Hudson's Bay, where it is possible 
to go only by the river Monsipy, which discharges into that sea 
at the head of the said Bay." The height of land at the Rivers 
Labrinthe and Tabitibis is stated, in this memoir, to be sixty 
leagues from Lake Temiscamigue. This is a point which the 
surveyors who establish the line of boundary between the Pro- 
vinces of Ontario and Quebec at this point, will soon determine. 
De Flsle's map does not make it any such distance, nor does 
that of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1857. At this time, the 
most advanced post of the French towards Hudson's Bay was 
situated on this portage ; and there a trade was carried on with 
the neighbouring Indians and those of Hudson's Bay who de- 
scended by the river Monsipy, (marked Monsony or St. Louis 
on De 1' Isle's carte). The English had a fort on the Monsipy, 
apparently situated on the east side at or near the mouth ; and 
the French did not think it prudent to extend their establishments 
farther north, lest they should expose themselves to the insults 
of Indians in the interests of the English. Pour ne pas s'exposer 
aux insultes des sauvages qui pourraient etre gagnes par les An- 
glais, que sont Habits an fond de la mer, on est un fort nomme 
Monsipy. 

It does not appear certain whether the French post, at the head 
of the Albany river, had been abolished in 1725; but the statement 
that on the height of land above Temiscamigue was the nearest 
they had to Hudson's Bay, seems to lead to that conclusion. 

* Mimoires des representations sur V adjudication qui vient d'Hre faite du poste de 
Temiscamigue. 



12 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

1 1 is to be borne in mind that if these were the ancient limits 
of the post of Temiscamigue, they seem to have been intended to 
shew the rights of the person then in possession. And when the 
King proposed to restrict the limits, three years previously, it does 
not appear that the proposal had any reference to an interna- 
tional boundary; but that he desired to do so because, prior to the 
adjudication on its limits, it was thought to encroach on the 
rights of the holders of other posts. The decision proceeded on 
the principle that it was necessary to include the River du Lievre, 
in order to secure certain limits, and because if this river were not 
included, whoever had the permission of trade there might attract 
Indians from the post of Temiscamingue ; and for the same reason 
ISjipissingue was included in it. Practically, at this point, one of 
the most accessible, if not the most accessible to Hudson's Bay, 
the French were confined to the height of land, twelve years after 
the conclusion of the Treaty of Utrecht, and six years after an 
abortive attempt had been made to fix in a definite manner the 
boundary line between Canada and Hudson's Bay Territory. The 
French had, in 1703, if De l'lsle's map may be relied on, a post 
north of the height of land on the river Abitibis, and it is certain 
that they were not required to vacate this post, as they were that 
of Bourbon after the Treaty of Utrecht If the post of Abitibis 
was held by the French till the peace of 1713 and afterwards 
abandoned, its abandonment must have been a voluntary act. It 
was not ceded to the English, for nothing was ceded ; it was not 
included in the restoration, because the English had never before 
been in possession of it, and there is not the least reason to believe 
that the Hudson's Bay Company ever established a fort or trading 
post at that point so long as the French remained masters of Can- 
ada. Afterwards that Company appears to have established itself 
there as it did at many other points, south and west, long after 
the French and Canadians had shewn it the way. 

In 1774, the Hudson's Bay Company had a post at some point 
south of Hudson's Bay in the direction of Temiscaming. This was 
probably on the site of the old French post of Abitibis. The 
French at that date, when there was war between the two nations, 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 33 

had a scheme for destroying that post as well as Fort Rupert, and 
the other English establishments on the north by the aid of the 
neighbouring Indians.* But the want of supplies prevented the 
enterprise being attempted. Beauharnois found himself obliged 
to act strictly on the defensivcf* 

There is what might easily be mistaken for a French admission 
of the Hudson's Bay Company having pushed some distance inland 
as early as 1682. M. de la Barre, writing in November of that 
year, says : "As to what relates to Hudson's Bay, the Company in old 
England advanced some small houses along a river which leads 
from Lake Superior. As possession was taken of this country 
several years ago, we will put an end to this disorder, and report 
next year the success of the design." 

The expression here used, " A river which leads from Lake Su- 
perior," evidently contains a geographical error. The reply of 
the French King to the Governor, M. de la Barre, April 10, 1684, 
mentions the name of the river which Radison and de Groisseliers 
had taken from the English — an establishment seven leagues up 
the Nelson River. The English Court instructed its Ambassador 
at Paris to enquire into the matter, whereupon the French King, 
taking De la Barre into his confidence, lays before him the policy 
on which he counts for success. 

" The King of England has authorized his Ambassador to speak 
to me respecting what occurred in the Nelson River between the 
English and Radison and de Groisseliers, whereupon I am happy 
to inform you that as I am unwilling to afford the King of England 
any cause of complaint, and as I think it important nevertheless 
to prevent the English establishing themselves on that river, it 
would be well for you to have a proposal made to the Commandant 
at Hudson's Bay that neither the French nor the English should 
have power to make any new establishments ; to which I am per- 
suaded he will give his consent, the more readily as he is not in 
a position to prevent those which my subjects would wish to form 
on said Nelson river." 

* M. de Beauharnois to Comte de Maurepas, Oct. 8, 1744. 

fM.de Beauharnois to Comte de Maurepas, Montreal, June 18, 1745. 

3 



84 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

When the Governor de la Barre mysteriously hinted at some 
measures that were being taken to drive the English from the ri- 
ver in question, he probably had reference to the expedition of 
Radison and de Groisseliers from Quebec. The date, 1682, is, I 
think, sufficient to settle this point. 

The suggestion of the French King that the traders of both na- 
tions should debar themselves from making any establishments 
in Hudson's Bay, does not appear to have been acted upon. The 
Marquis de Denonville, October 13 and Nov. 16, 1688, speaks of 
a " convention concluded with England, that the river Bourbon or 
Port Nelson shall remain in joint occupation of the two Crowns." 
It would be better, he thought, that the French should exchange 
Port Nelson for the posts at the head of the Bay." If this ar- 
rangement were favourable, he added, " the Indians could thus be 
intercepted by land ; for it would be useless to attempt to become 
masters of the upper parts of the Rivers Bourbon and Ste. Therese, 
inasmuch as it would be impossible to prevent the Indians trading 
with the English." If this is not very intelligible, it is sufficient 
to show that the English had not occupied the upper parts of these 
rivers. 

The weakness of the Canada Company was its want of capital 
and naval armaments ; and it was obliged to beg assistance from 
the French Court. 

In 1705, a new appeal to the King was made to send a vessel 
from France with provisions for the Garrison, which was in danger 
of perishing if it did not obtain assistance ; and the Quebec Com- 
pany was in no condition to render the necessary aid.* 

But this maritime weakness necessitated greater exertions by 
land, which tended to confine the English to the shores 
of the Bay. In the spring of 1709, a party of Canadians 
went overland to Hudson's Bay and attacked the English Fort of 
Kitchichouane, but the enterprise failed, not without some loss to 
the attacking party.-)- The Ministry blamed M. Vaudreuil for 
taking part in this expedition out of motives of interest ; but he 

* Lettre de MM. de Vaudreuil et de Beauharnois, 19 Oct. 1705. 
t Lettre de M. Radout au Ministre, Quebec, 14 Oct. 1709. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 3o 

replied that he had only acted on the King's orders and theirs, 
and that if he had taken an interest in an enterprise which cost 
the King nothing, he had done so in order that it could not be 
said that Radout had done more for it than himself. 

The proposal of the Company to adopt the 49th degree of lati- 
tude everywhere, except on the coasts of Labrador, was not one 
that could be sustained under the Treaty of Utrecht. It would 
have come down nearly to the mouth of the Nipegon River ; an 
encroachment on the southern watershed to which it never pre- 
tended any sort of right. The proposal was made in a bargaining 
spirit and with the view of wresting from the French a portion of 
the fur trade, of which they were admittedly in possession. The 
most extended meaning of the word " rivers " in the treaty could 
not justify England in overstepping the height of land from the 
north. On this point there cannot possibly be any dispute. The 
English Commissioners (1719) made claims in accordance with the 
proposals of the Company, and asked besides the exclusive control 
of all the rivers that empty into Hudson's Bay. 

A geographical difficulty presented itself. The English and 
French maps showed a difference of two degrees ; so that a com- 
mon basis for the discussion of the English proposition to adopt a 
parallel of latitude as the boundary was wanting. No further 
proceedings took place before the Commissioners. The two maps 
were probably about equally wrong. The Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, in one of their proposals respecting a boundary, July 10, 
1700, placed Albany River in the 53rd degree of latitude. If any 
progress in the geographical knowledge of that part of the world 
has since been made, this was about a degree too high : it is about 
a degree higher than their own map of 1857 places it. 

Can it be the difference in the maps represented by the 
two lines drawn when the negotiation of the Treaty of Utrecht 
was going on ? These lines were to form a guide in the settlement 
of the question, whenever Commissioners were appointed, and the 
difference between them was to be the measure of what it would 
be possible to bring into contention. If the difference between 
the two mpps represented the difference between these two lines ; 



36 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

and if the English demands were coincident with the English line, 
it would follow the territory in dispute lay between the 49th de- 
gree and 51st degree of north latitude. On this view, in the ab- 
sence of particular facts to guide us, we have no right to suppose 
the question could not be settled otherwise than by an equal com- 
promise, which would have given Canada then, and would now 
give Ontario, the 50th degree for its northern boundary. 

It is perhaps not probable that the difference in the maps repre- 
sented the difference in the two lines drawn by the negotiators of 
the Peace of Utrecht. The question was scarcely touched by the 
Commissioners, and it has never at anytime undergone an exhaus- 
tive discussion. The Commissioners appointed in 1750 to settle 
the boundaries between the French and British possessions in 
America confined their discussion to the ancient limits of Acadie 
or Nova Scotia and the Island of St. Lucia. It was, no doubt, 
then intended to bring all the disputed boundaries between the 
two nations in America under discussion, with a view to their set- 
tlement ; and the Hudson's Bay Company was asked to lay before 
the Lords of Trade and Plantations a statement of the limits of 
the territory granted to them. The Company accompanied their 
reply with a map which they seemed to think would stand in the 
place of a particular description ; but they also stated their claim 
in the following words : " All the lands lying on the east side or 
coast of the said Bay, and extending from the said Bay eastward to 
the Atlantic Ocean and Davis' Strait, and the line hereafter men- 
tioned as the east and south-east boundaries of the said Com- 
pany's territories ; and towards the north all the lands that lie at 
the north end, or on the north side or coast of the said Bay, and 
extending from the Bay northwards to the utmost limits of the 
lands towards the North Pole ; but where or how these lands ter- 
minate is hitherto unknown. And towards the west all the lands 
that lie on the side or coast of the said Bay, and extending from 
the said Bay westward to the utmost limits of those lands ; but 
where or how these lands terminate to the westward is also un- 
known, though probably they will be found to terminate on the 
Great Sea towards the South." 

The claim to go to the utmost limit of the land on the north 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 37 

and the west — lands of which the extent was confessedly un- 
known to the claimants — is, considering the extent of country — 
embracing seventy -five degrees of longitude, from Labrador to the 
Pacific, and twenty degrees of latitude, or about 2,900 miles by 
1,500 — perhaps the most extraordinary ever made. It is a curi- 
ous coincidence that the description given of their northern 
boundary by the Company was almost exactly the same as had 
been previously given by the French of theirs : translate the 
French description, du cote du nord aidant s' etendent les terres du- 
dit fays, and we have the words of the English claim. The 
French claim, barring occupation on the coasts of Hudson's Bay, 
must have been just as good at the time it was made ; and as 
possession is an important item in the validity of any such claim, 
and the French were actually in possession of a large part of the 
country to the westward, claimed by the Company, in 1750, it 
will be necessary to review the question in the two- fold aspect of 
those two claims, and the degrees of possession with which they 
were accompanied. 

In 1651, Lauzon was appointed Lieutenant-General of New 
France, and his authority was to extend on the north as far as 
the land extended, {du cote du nord aidant s' etendent les terres 
dudit x>ays) and in the same way as it had been held and exer- 
cised by Sieur Daillebout. This seems to imply that it was not the 
first time such a description had been given. The same extent of 
country on the north is given in the letters patent which 
appointed Yicomte Argenson, Governor of New France, January 
26, 1657, as well as in the letters patent appointing Sieur de 
Mezy Governor of New France for three years, in the place of 
Sieur de Bois d'Avangour, recalled May, 1663. 

When the first of these commissions was issued, not a single 
English vessel had visited Hudson's Bay for twenty years, and 
only two had visited it in half a century, when the last of 
them was issued : and at no time had there been any continuous 
possession, any settlement made, colony planted or trading estab- 
lishments set up. It is obvious that mere discovery, in the face 
of these acts, could not confer any exclusive territorial rights, in 



38 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Hudson's Bay, upon England. The French claim, at that time, 
to extend to an unknown Arctic sea may have been equally extra- 
vagant and worthless ; on a par with that of the Hudson's Bay 
Company to indefinite extension westward over countries which 
they had never explored and of which they confessedly knew 
nothing. 

A short time before the date of the above Commissions, another 
form of description had been in use. The commission of Sieur 
Hauault de Montmagny, as Governor and Lieu ten ant- General of 
Quebec, was received on the 6th June, 1645. He was to repre- 
sent the person of the Sovereign at Quebec, and in the provinces 
watered by the River St. Lawrence and other rivers which dis- 
charge therein, and places dependent thereon, in New France 
(dans les Provinces arrosees du Fleuve St. Laurent et des autres 
rivieres dechargeant en icelui, et lieux qui en dependent en la 
Nouvelle France). 

After New France had several times been officially described 
as extending as far north as the land extended, it seems to have 
been taken for granted that its limits had by repetition become 
established and understood. Accordingly a particular description 
is dispensed with. The Commission of M. Talon, dated March 
23, 1665, makes him Intendant of Justice, Police and Finances 
in Canada, Acadie, Terreneuve, and other countries of the France 
of the North [et autres pays de la France Septentrionale). The 
description in the Commission of M. de Bouteroue, April 8, 1688, 
is in the same terms. One Commission, that of M. Bigot, had at an 
earlier date contained a general description. It made him Intend- 
ant of Justice, Finance and Marine in Canada, Louisiana and all 
the lands and isles dependent on New France (dans notrepays de 
Canada la Louisianne et dans toutes les terres et Ues ddpen- 
dantes de la Nouvelle France). At a much earlier period, a clause 
which seemed to show a desire to respect the rights of other Chris- 
tian Princes was sometimes inserted in the French Commissions. 
The letters patent, January 12, 1598, appointing Sieur de la 
Roche Lieutenant-General of Canada, Hochelaga and Terres- 
neuve, Labrador, the River of Grand Bay, Norembeghe, and all the 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 39 

lands adjacent to the said Provinces and Rivers, assumed that 
they were not inhabited by any Christian Prince, and contained 
a proviso that the countries over which his authority was to ex- 
tend should not be any that were under the obedience of any 
princes and potentates, friends, allies or confederates of the French 
Crown. 

Each of these classes of descriptions has a distinct character of 
its own. The oldest assumes an uncertainty about the extent of 
the neighbouring countries, the colonies of other nations, and 
a desire to respect their rights ; but even in that respect a prefer- 
ence was given to friends, allies and confederates. Then came the 
era of a more distinct description of boundaries, even when the 
uncertain was being dealt with. And, lastly, the name of the 
country came to be substituted for a particular description, as if 
its boundaries were sufficiently recognized for all administrative 
purposes. 

The difference between the French and the English claims is this : 
The French, when they claimed to extend their Canadian posses- 
sions as far north as the land extended, had not possession of the 
Hudson Bay ; the Hudson Bay Company held possession of that 
Bay when^ in 1750, they claimed to extend to the utmost north. 
So far the difference may be admitted to be in favour of the Eng- 
lish; but when we come to what they claimed in the west, this 
rule tells against them. In 1750 the French held possession of 
nearly the whole country, from Lake Nipigon, Kaministiqua and 
the Grand Portage, west of the mouth of the Pidgeon River, on Lake 
Superior, to the Rocky Mountains, at the foot of which, on the River 
Saskatchewan, they, two years later, established Fort Jonquiere. 
Their explorers had first come within sight of the mountains, on the 
1st of January 1743, seven years before the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany claimed to extend westwards, they knew not where. In 
1731, nineteen years before this extraordinary claim was made, 
the French established Fort St. Pierre, at the discharge of the Lac 
la Pluie ; in the year after, they erected Fort St. Charles on a river 
connected with Lake Minitie, or the Lake of the Woods ; Fort 
Maurepas, after the name of the French Minister, on the Winni- 



40 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

peg River ; Fort La Reine, on the Assiniboine or St. Charles, on 
the 3rd October, 1738. The Assiniboine River became the 
centre of the French establishments in the north-west, and the 
point where their discoverers set out on new adventures. On the 
River Des Biches, Fort Bourbon was built. On the 19th March, 
1743, Chevalier de Verandrye and his brother took possession of 
the upper Mississippi, in token of which they buried on an emi- 
nence near the Fort, a plate of lead, bearing the arms of the French 
King. Five years later, he ascended the Saskatchewan, or Pos- 
koyac, to its forks, when he learnt from the Indians that it had 
its source in the Rocky Mountains. It was in 1752 that some of 
his men established Fort Jonquiere, he himself having been un- 
able from exhaustion to proceed the whole distance. The Marquis 
Ducheme de Menoville, by whom De la Jonquiere had been suc- 
ceeded, sent M. de la Corne to succeed M. de St. Pierre, in charge 
of the posts of the west.* 

It is evident from the whole negotiations, that France never in- 
tended to renounce by the Treaty of Utrecht the rights of dis- 
covering and taking possession of countries north and north-west 
of Lake Superior. Neither England nor the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany tried to prevent the extension of the French over the terri- 
tories of the north-west ; it does not even appear that the one or 
the other complained of that extension. The case had been very 
different when France struggled to maintain a footing on Hud- 
son's Bay ; then every effort had been put forth to defeat their de- 
sign. 

The view which had generally been taken in England, since 
the time of Queen Elizabeth, with regard to the acquisition of new 
countries, was that something more than discovery was necessary 
to confer a title ; there required also to be possession or occupation. 
It follows that neither England, nor any company chartered by her 
authority, could claim any right to that north-west country in 
which the French discoveries have been traced. Nor were those 
discoveries the work of unauthorized individuals ; they were un- 

* Les Verennes de Verandrye, par Pierre Margy. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 41 

dertaken and carried out with the full sanction and authority of 
the Government. 

The Company's territorial claims have varied according to cir- 
cumstances, and have often had for their basis little more than to 
secure all the territory it could obtain, without particular re- 
ference to its Charter or the Treaty between England and 
France. Sometimes the Company appears to have been not un- 
willing to bear the sacrifice of a loss of national territory, on Hud- 
son's Bay, if the fortune of war and the power of Canada seemed 
to render this inevitable. In the year 1700, France made two al- 
ternative propositions to England, by one of which France was to 
keep Fort Bourbon and the English Chichichouanne, on the Albany 
River, whilst the country between the two Forts was to be equal- 
ly divided between the two nations ; and in case England con- 
sented to this arrangement, France would agree to confine its 
claims in Acadie to the River St. George. The second alterna- 
tive was, that France should have Chichichouanne and England Fort 
Bourbon ; in which case, England was not to push her claims in 
Acadie beyond the River Kenebeki. The Company seems not to 
have objected to an exchange of places. The Treaty of Ryswick 
did not allow England's right to the whole Bay of Hudson, and 
the rights of the Company could not in this respect be greater 
than that of the nation. We must therefore pass over, for pur- 
poses of this discussion, any proposal of boundaries made by the 
Company under these circumstances. It may be fairly taken for 
granted, that the proposal then made would not have been made 
if the Company had been in possession of the whole Bay ; their un- 
doubted right to which was still talked about, as if the fortunes 
of war and the stipulations of diplomacy had not given part of it 
to France. 

After part of the shores of the Bay had been secured to France 
by the Treaty of Ryswick, the Company never regained the lost 
territory by any instrument having the form and force of its ori- 
ginal charter. Was its charter strong enough to reinstate it in 
right of territory of which, in common with the English Crown, it 
had been divested by a treaty with France ? Was it not rather 



42 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

thenceforth reduced to the condition of a pampered squatter in 
those parts of her coast which France had previously held under 
the Treaty of Ryswick % 

The Company's Charter, although it may have been perfectly 
good as against the Crown by whom it was granted, could not in- 
terfere with the rights of another nation. The Company could 
not encroach on the French colony of Canada. During war, ter- 
ritory legally granted to the Company was liable to be invaded, 
and in point of fact, every post on Hudson's Bay, with one ex- 
ception, did at one time fall into the power of the French. This 
is fully set forth in a petition to the King, September 21st, 1711, 
in which we read " that the only settlement now remaining to 
the Company, (of seven it formerly had,) is Albany Fort on the 
Chichichouanne, where they are surrounded by the French on 
every side, viz. : by their settlements on the rivers and lakes, from 
Canada to the northward, towards Hudson's Bay, as also from 
Fort Nelson (at York Fort) to the southward ; the French like- 
wise have made another settlement between Fort Nelson and 
Albany Fort, whereby the Indians are hindered from coming to 
trade with the English Factory, at the bottom of the Bay." The 
Company's unceasing iteration of claims, which it called i^s " un- 
doubted rights," was to count among its possessions what was at 
the time lost to the Crown of England ; and any proposal the 
Company might make under the circumstances, could only be con- 
sidered in connection with the whole proposals for a general 
peace. If England got Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay and 
Acadie, she had to allow France to retain Cape Breton, and 
guaranteed her certain rights of fishery, on which a high value 
was placed. When the least prospect of peace appeared, or even 
in anticipation of it, the Company, February 8th, 1711, well know- 
ing that if more were obtained in one part of the continent, less 
might have to be taken or more conceded elsewhere, resolved to 
use its influence, which was always considerable, to obtain an ex- 
tensive belt of land to the south of Hudson's Bay. It proposed 
that the line should begin at Grimingtori Island, or Cape Perdrix, 
58 \ deg. on the Labrador coast, and that no French vessel should be 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 43 

allowed to go north of that cape.* " That a line should be supposed 
to pass southward of the said Island of Grimington, or Cape Per- 
drix, to the great Lake Miscosinke-ats-Mistoveny, dividing the 
same into two parts (as in the maps now delivered), and that the 
French, nor any others employed by them, shall come to the north 
or westward of the said line, or supposed line, by land or water, on 
or through any river, lakes or countries, to trade, or erect any forts 
or settlements whatsoever, and the English, on the contrary, not to 
pass the said line, either to the southward or eastward." The Lake 
here meant is, I apprehend, Mistassine, the source of Rupert's River. 
It lies, according to the Hudson's Bay Company's Map, 1857, be- 
tween the 50th deg. and 51st deg. of latitude. 

Even if this were the line marked on the map handed in by the 
British plenipotentiaries, during the negotiations for peace, there 
would still be the difference between it and that afterwards mark- 
ed on the same map by the French ; it being agreed that the in- 
termediate space should limit the extent of the territory which 
could be brought into dispute by commissioners, by whom the 
boundary should be ultimately settled. 

At no time, till after the Treaty of Utrecht was concluded, did 
^he Company propose to deflect the line of boundary southward 
from Lake Mistassine to the 49th deg. Then, for the first time, 
August 4, 1714, it did so. It had no longer to deal with a foreign 
country, having possessions in the immediate neighbourhood of 
Hudson's Bay ; and what could not be obtained in an internation- 
al negotiation might be extorted from the Queen's Government. 
Nevertheless the proposed line was one which it was not in the 
power of England to grant. The French had long had undis- 
turbed possession of Lake Nipegon, where they had traded 
with the Indians, for more than a quarter of a century, north of 
49 deg.f 



*By 20 Geo. III. cap. 60, lat. 59° 30' was made the legal limit between Gulf of St. 
Lawrence and the Greenland sea fisheries, each of which was under different regulations. 
But this line was evidently intended to be coincident with the southern extremity of 
Greenland, and had no reference to the land on the American coast. 

f M. de Denonvilte to M. de Seignelay, Ville Marie, Aug. 25th, 1687. 



44 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

It cannot be seriously alleged that the French had intended, in 
divesting themselves of Hudson's Itey, to give up Lake Nipegon. If 
theline claimed by the Company, east of Hudson's Bay, immediately 
prior to the negotiations for peace, ran between the 50th and 51st deg. 
of latitude, by what right did the Company afterwards, in ex- 
tending the line of boundary westwards, claim to deflect south- 
wards to the 49th deg. ? It was certainly not on the ground of dis- 
covery, for it knew nothing of the country on that parallel west- 
ward, much less could it be on the ground of possession. Nor did 
its Charter allow it to encroach on countries in possession of any 
other Christian Prince. And during the seventy-six years which 
had elapsed between the time when French fur traders first held 
commerce with the Indians on Lake Nipegon, and the transfer of 
Canada to England, never did the Hudson's Bay Company ven- 
ture near or attempt to interfere with their trade there. It is 
true that, in 1744, some half a dozen Englishmen from the neigh- 
bouring British colonies, in all probability built an establishment 
about 20 leagues north of Michipicoton, whither they had 
been conducted by a Canadian refugee ; * but it will not be seri- 
ously contended that a small band of fillibusters could, by any act 
of theirs, transfer the national rights of one country to another, 
much less confer new powers or privileges on the Hudson's Bay 
Company. 

In the map of North America drawn by Arrowsmith for the 
Hudson's Bay Company, and laid before the House of Commons 
Committee in 1857,the territories claimed by the Company, in vir- 
tue of the Charter granted to them by King Charles the Second, 
are shown by a green colouring. They here comprise the entire 
western water-shed of Hudson's Bay, including both branches of 
the Saskatchewan to the Rocky Mountains. On the north, they 
extend between the 75th deg. and 85th deg. west longitude, above 
the 70th deg. of north latitude, where the line descends almost due 
south on the east side of the Gulf of Bothia, of which, turning 
westward, it crosses the southern end ; then it takes a north-west 
direction till it reaches to a little below the point at which the 65th 

* M. de Beauharnois to Count de Maurepas. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 45 

deg. of north latitude is intersected by the 105th deg. of west longi- 
tude ; it then runs nearly due south and almost on the latter de- 
gree of longitude till it intersects the 60th deg. latitude ; then, to 
strike the true dividing line of the Arctic and the eastern water- 
sheds, it deflects southward a little so as to strike the centre of 
Woolaston or Manito Lake (which belongs to both water-sheds and 
drains both ways); then it takes a south-western course between 
the upper branches of the Athabaska on the north and those of the 
Churchill or English river and of the north Saskatchewan on the 
south. On the southern water-shed, it embraces all the rivers that 
empty into James' Bay. It makes the waters of the Lake Mistas- 
sine descend to near the 5 0th deg. north latitude ; where they al- 
most meet the head waters of the Upper Saguenay. It places 
the head waters of what is marked as the south branch of the 
Moose river considerably below the 49th deg. parallel, and those of 
the Abbitibe a little lower still. Of the triangle formed by the 
east shore of Hudson's Bay, Hudson's Strait and the Labrador 
coast, the straits of Bellisle and the St. Lawrence, it claims much 
more than it leaves to Canada. But it is noticeable that this line 
gives the Hudson's Bay Company no part of the Labrador coast, 
their claim to which above Grimington Island was, in 1857, no 
longer put forward. On the west it cuts off Ontario a little west 
of the 90th deg. of west longitude. 

This claim is founded on the words of the charter by Charles 
II., which granted the sole trade and commerce of " all those seas, 
straits, bays, lakes, creeks, and sounds aforesaid, in whatever lati- 
tude they should be, that lie within the entrance of the straits 
commonly called Hudson's Straits, together with all the lands and 
territories upon the continents, coasts, and confines of the seas, 
bays, lakes, rivers, creeks, and sounds aforesaid, that are not 
already actually possessed by or granted to any of our subjects or 
possessed by the subjects of any other Christian Prince." Leaving 
aside the extraordinary nature of this grant of unknown territory, 
a claim made under it in 1857, to the whole country of which the 
rivers run into Hudson's Bay, assumes that no part of that water- 
shed was in possession of France in 1670, an assumption of which 



4ti UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

no proof is or can be offered ; and it sets aside the agreement of 
the two nations, during the negotiations of the Peace of Utrecht, 
to be guided, in the settlement of this boundary, by a map then 
used. 

The geography of many parts of the country on which the lines 
of these assumed limits are drawn is very imperfectly known ; 
and the Hudson's Bay Company has made a poor use of its oppor- 
tunities if it is not better informed on the subject than any one 
outside that corporation can possibly be. At the same time, there 
is no reason to suppose that it has any information that would 
enable it to make a map that should be correct in all particulars. 
The Company's map places the height of land almost close to Lake 
Temiscaming, while the French, who had a trading post on that 
height in 1725, describe it as being between the rivers Labrynthe 
and Tabitibis, sixty leagues from Lake Temiscamingue. The 
Monsipy is stated by Begon to have a course of eighty leagues.* 
In 1732, Joseph Laurent Normandin, ascending by the waters of 
the Saguenay, established the height of land between the three 
rivers and Saguenay water-sheds at 48 deg. 18 min. This height 
of land sloped east and west, and implied by this configuration 
that the vallies of the rivers extend considerably farther north. 
But if the whole northern water-shed once belonged to the Hud- 
son's Bay Company, and has since become the property of the 
Dominion of Canada by purchase, Ontario would have to accept 
the line of the head waters wherever it might be. 

If we examine the western boundary of Ontario in its geogra- 
phical aspect, as laid down on the Hudson's Bay Company's map, 
we shall find, by the aid of other information, that Ontario ex- 
tends considerably west of the point where a line drawn due 
north from the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi would 
strike the north side of Lake Superior, according to Surveyor 
Sax's evidence, on the trial of Reinhard, about three-quarters of a 
degree east of Fort William. The geographical solution would 
take Ontario one and a half and probably two and a half degrees 

* Mfmoire de Ber/on. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 47 

farther west; I say probably, because even here something is 
wanting to the completeness of our geographical information. 

The south end of the great carrying place, Mr. Thompson's ob- 
servations placed in 47 deg. 58 min. 1 sec. north latitude, 89 deg. 
44 min. 20 sec. longitude, west of Greenwich. The length of the 
Grand Portage is eight miles and twenty yards to where it strikes 
Pidgeon river. This point is about three hundred feet above Pid- 
geon river, and the distance thence to the height of land is thirty- 
eight miles (in which there are twelve carrying places), making the 
whole distance from the starting point on Lake Superior to the 
height of land forty-eight miles. The height of land is here in 
48 deg. 6 min. 43 sec. north latitude, longitude 90 deg. 34 sec. 38 
dec, variation (year 1796) 6 deg. east. In ordinary language, it 
is usual to speak as if the streams ran in one direction due north, 
and in the other due south. On the eastern slope of the conti- 
nent this would be impossible, for the ultimate direction of the 
two water-sheds from this point is eastwards. In one of Thomp- 
son's maps, made to illustrate the international boundary line 
survey, he marked two points on the Pidgeon river chain of wa- 
ters with the words " height of land." The first is on the point 
already given, and the second is nearly a degree farther west ; but 
he himself states that above the first point so marked the streams 
run into Hudson's Bay. If the plateau were extended it might 
be difficult to say, without a special examination, where the true 
dividing line on the height of land is to be found. Mr. Hind 
states that, on the Kaministiqua and Dog Lake chain of waters 
between the Savanne river and Cold Water lake, " we have the 
height of land sending its waters both to the St. Lawrence and to 
Hudson's Bay." But Lake Seiganagh, between the two points 
marked by Mr. Thompson as " height of land," should, from its size, 
have a tolerably well-defined outlet, though from that map it does 
not appear to have. In the grant of territory by the Hudson's 
Bay Company to the Earl of Selkirk, in 1811, the principal branch 
of the waters which unite in Lake Sagenagas * is described as the 

* The same as Seiganagh. 



48 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

source of the Winnepeg, and this is probably the case. Wollaston 
Lake contributes to two different water-sheds, and there are other 
instances of lacs des deux dechavges. Sir Alexander Mackenzie 
speaks of the Lake the Hauteur (s) de (s) Terre(s) on the Pidgeon 
river chain. He says the water from Lake Superior to that point 
leads along the high rocky land on the shore of Lake Superior, on 
the left, which is the American side of the international boundary, 
u the face of the country offering a wild scene of huge hills and 
rocks," separated by stony vallies, lakes and ponds." He adds, 
" where there is the least soil it is well covered with trees." Mr. 
Thompson thinks the country adapted for grazing, as it is well 
watered by brooks and small lakes. Mr. Gladman, of the Canadian 
Exploration Survey, 1857, speaks of this height of land as being 
" short and steep," and the streams as " exceedingly shallow." 

The height of land, taking the lower point marked as such by 
Mr. Thompson, is farther north on the Pidgeon river than on the 
Kaministiqua and Dog Lake chain. It is stated by Mr. Napier, of 
the Canadian exploration survey party, 1857, to be 87*32 miles 
from Lake Superior. The -maps differ as to the position of the 
height of land in the latter chain, but it cannot be far from lati- 
tude 49 deg., longitude 90 deg. The two chains of water which 
equally lead to Rainy Lake, form two sides of an irregular triangle, 
having for its eastern side the meridian of 88 deg. 50 min. 

The altitude of the height of land is much greater on the north- 
ern than on the southern chain. If Mr. Napier be correct, the 
height of land on the Kaministiqua and Dog Lake route is 887*15 
feet; which is nearly three times the altitude of that on the Pidgeon 
river route. If this be correct, the southern confluents of the 
former must be shorter than the latter. The precise position of 
the height of land in the centre of the space formed by this rude 
triangle can only be known by careful survey. The western point 
may extend about as far as 90 deg. 40 min., or 91 deg. west 
longitude, and cannot be far from 48 deg. 30 min. north latitude. 

The quantity of land which Ontario can claim on this view of 
the case, and this I conceive is the least quantity that can possibly 
be brought into dispute over and above what she would get if 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 49 

her western frontier were a line due north of the point of junction 
between the Ohio and the Mississippi, I estimate at three millions 
nine hundred thousand acres. The great economic value of much 
of this territory is shewn in the report of Mr. Robert Bell, of the 
Geological Survey of Canada, for 1870. Sir William Logan has 
questioned the correctness of that report in some particulars, and 
in others he has placed Mr. Bell in opposition to himself ; but the 
matters about which the uncertainty existed were the size and 
height of Lake Nipegon and the age of some rocks ; questions 
which interest the geographer and geologist, but which do not 
otherwise affect the value of the information. The recent reports 
of Mr. Dawson more than corroborate the statements of Mr. Bell 
in this respect as to the value of the territory. 

As the western boundary of Ontario has a certain dependence 
on the northern, it was necessary to treat of the latter first. 

The Quebec Act of 1774 gives the following as the boundaries 
of the Province of Quebec at that time : " Our Province of Quebec, 
in North America, comprehending all the territories, islands and 
countries in North America, bounded by a line drawn from the Bay 
of Chaleurs along the high lands which divide the rivers that empty 
into the St Lawrence from those which fall into the sea to a point 
in forty-five degrees of northern latitude on the eastern bank to 
the River Connecticut, keeping the same latitude directly west 
through the Lake Cham plain, until in the same latitude it meets 
with the River St Lawrence ; from thence up the eastern bank of 
the said river to Lake Ontario, thence through the Lake Ontario 
and the river commonly called Niagara ; and thence along by the 
eastern and south-eastern bank of Lake Erie, following the said 
bank until the same shall be intersected by the northern boundary 
granted by the charter of the Province of Pennsylvania, in case 
the same shall be so intersected, and from thence along the said 
northern and western boundaries of the said Province until the 
said western boundary strikes the Ohio ; but in case the said bank 
of the said Lake shall not be found to be so intersected, then fol- 
lowing the said bank until it shall arrive at the point of the said 
bank which shall be nearest the north-western angle of the Pro- 



50 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

vince of Pennsylvania, and thence by a right line to the said 
north-western angle of the said Province ; thence along the wes- 
tern boundary of the said Province until it strikes the Ohio, and 
along the said bank of the said river westward to the banks of 
the Mississippi, and northward to the southern boundary of the 
territory granted to the merchants adventurers trading to Hud- 
son's Bay." 

The whole of the description as far as the word " Mississippi," 
relates to the southern boundary ; the words " bounded on the 
south " applying to the whole of that long line. The remainder 
of the description, in which the western and northern boundaries 
are to be found, is comprised in the words " and northward to the 
southern, boundary of the territory granted to the merchants ad- 
venturers of England trading to Hudson's Bay ;" that is the line 
which runs from the point where the Ohio falls into the Missis- 
sippi, " northward " to the Hudson's Bay Company's territory. 
If " by " had been substituted for " to," the reading would 
have been, " and bounded northward by the southern boundary 
of the territory granted to the merchants adventurers of England 
trading to Hudson's Bay." In this case there could have been no 
difficulty. But it would not be grammatically correct or intel- 
ligible to say that Quebec was bounded " northward " to the sou- 
thern boundary of the Hudson's Bay territory." There are many- 
descriptions of territory in which the word " northward " and 
" westward," or " southward," or " eastward," or " north," "east," 
" west," " south," are used in a general sense to indicate land on 
one side of a given line, but there is no difficulty in understanding 
what they mean. A few examples will suffice for illustration. 
The territory embraced in one of Sir William Johnson's purchases 
from the Indians is first described by a definite line, and then the 
words are added, "and extending eastward from every part of 
the said line as far as the lands formerly purchased, so as to com- 
prehend the whole of the land between the said line and the pur- 
chased lands or settlements except what is in the Province of 
Pennsylvania." 
One article of the Treaty of Utrecht contains a description of 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 51 

this kind. " The subjects of the Most Christian Majesty shall be 
hereafter excluded from all kinds of fishing in the said seas, bays 
and other places on the coast of Nova Scotia, that is to say, within 
thirty leagues beginning from the island commonly called Sable 
inclusively, and thence stretching towards the " south-west." Sup - 
ply the ellipsis by adding after " leagues" the words " of the said 
coast," and all is clear. The English Commissioners in the Acadie 
boundary case say, " all the country to the westward oftheriver St. 
Croix had, in the year 1620, been granted by King James to cer- 
tain of his subjects by the name of the Council of Plymouth." 
Also, "the French Commissioners seem to admit that if the commis- 
sion of the Sieur Charnesy describing the bounds of Acadia to ex- 
tend from the river of St. Lawrence northward to the Virginias or 
New England westward, had been a commission of Acadia, the 
use made of it by us in the last memorial would have been con- 
clusive." The Hudson's Bay Company in one of its communica- 
tions uses the words, " beyond Rupert's River, south-east toward 
Canada." This is intended to mean beyond the source of Rupert's 
River, though the fact could not be discovered without reference 
to the map. 

All these descriptions are different from that in the Quebec Act, 
and present less difficulty. We shall hereafter see a use of the word 
" northerly," in the commission of Lord Dorchester, to indicate a 
line which has its starting point from a base, running due west from 
a designated point. It remains to find where the line between the 
junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi should be drawn. The 
English Commissioners on the Acadie boundary question said of a 
similar difficulty : " Clear and precise as the French Commissioners 
think the words of the Treaty, a difference of construction has 
been raised upon them, and different limits are assigned by the 
two Crowns as the ancient limits. In this the Treaty of Utrecht 
becomes doubtful ; and how is the doubt to be settled ? By the 
words of the Treaty itself? The doubt is originally raised upon 
them ; but suppose other Treaties can be found in which this 
country has been before transferred, or any authentic proceedings 
by which the limits of Acadia or Nova Scotia have been clearly 



52 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

ascertained upon enquiry and discussion or any declarations made 
by the two Crowns during the negotiations of the Treaty itself, by 
which the intentions of the two Crowns at the time can be fully 
demonstrated, are not such the only sufficient and proper transac- 
tions to which we can refer or appeal for deciding what extent is 
to be given to those words in the Treaty of Utrecht which trans- 
fer to Great Britain Acadia or Nova Scotia with its ancient limits ? 
Are not these the very evidences which the French Commissioners 
affect to set aside in their memorial as being " etrangeres a Vetat 
de la question /" 

They also said : " We shall found many very essential arguments 
on the proceedings contemporary with the Treaties ; we shall give 
a summary of the steps of the negotiations preceding each Treaty, 
and of such measures as were taken in the execution of it as may 
contribute to explain the intention and to ascertain the effect of 
it, at the same time that we mention the Treaty itself." 

The rule laid down in these extracts may here be followed with 
advantage. 

The first clause of the Quebec Act has a history which it may 
be well not to overlook. In the original draft which came up for 
consideration in the House of Commons, on the 6th June, 1777, 
it read as follows : — 

" And whereas, by the arrangements made by the said royal 
proclamation, a very large part of the territory of Canada, within 
which there were several colonies and settlements of the subjects 
of France, who claimed to remain therein under the faith of the 
said Treaty, was left without any provision being made for the ad- 
ministration of civil government therein, and other parts of the 
said country where sedentary fisheries have been established and 
carried on by the subjects of France, inhabitants of the said 
Province of Canada, under grants and concessions from the 
Government thereof, were annexed to the Government of 
Newfoundland, &c, be it enacted, that all the said terri- 
tories, islands and countries heretofore part of the territory of 
Canada, in North America, extending southward to the banks of 
the River Ohio, westward to the banks of the Mississippi, and 



. UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 53 

northward to the southern boundary of the territory granted to 
the merchant adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay, 
and which said territories, islands and countries are not within 
the limits of some other British colony, as allowed and confirmed 
by the Crown, or which have, since the 10th of February, 1763, 
been made part of the Government of Newfoundland, be, and they 
are hereby, during his Majesty's pleasure, annexed to, and made 
part and parcel of the Province of Quebec, as created and estab- 
lished by the said royal proclamation of the 7th October, 1763." 

Here the Mississippi river, north of the Ohio, is distinctly made 
the western boundary of the Province of Quebec, and the words 
" northward to the southern boundary of the territory granted to 
the merchant adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay," 
stood precisely as they do in the Act as it finally passed. This 
shows an intention, from the first, on the part of the framers of the 
Act, to make the Mississippi river the western boundary of the Pro- 
vince, as far as its source ; northward, from that point, it 
was to be drawn till it reached the southern frontier of Hudson's 
Bay territory ; northward, not due north, for it might have to go 
north by east before it could strike that frontier. There is nothing 
to show that the alteration from the original draft to the clause 
as finally settled had for its object to affect the proposed western 
boundary. On the contrary, there was no difficulty on that side ; 
the whole country to the Mississippi river was indisputably under 
the dominion of the British Crown, and there was no intervening 
British colony to be affected by that demarcation. The only diffi- 
culty was that, by the wording of the clause as originally drawn, 
the limits of the Province of New York, or of Pennsylvania, might 
be affected. In considering that draft, Lord North saw "great 
difficulties as to the best mode of proceeding ;" and he explained 
that it was intended, " immediately after the passing of this Act, 
to go on with the project of running the boundary line between 
Quebec and New York and Pennsylvania, &c, belonging to the 
Crown." But as something more was desired by many members, 
he proposed, the report says, to leave out the words "hereto- 
fore part of the territory of Canada," and insert "extent of 



54t UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

country," and also to leave out " said country," and insert " terri- 
tory of Canada." This is quite unintelligible, and the report is 
certainly erroneous ; for the words "said country " do not occur 
in the draft, and " extent of country," if substituted for the words 
" heretofore part of the territory of Canada," would produce con- 
fusion. But this is of no importance, because the amendment 
suggested was not finally adopted. The original draft left the 
boundaries between the Province of Quebec and that of New 
York undefined. This was precisely what Edmund Burke, the 
stipendiary agent of the Province of New York, was not willing 
to assent to ; and the Penn interest had taken the alarm lest there 
should be encroachments on Pennsylvania. On the 10th June 
the chairman of the Commons' Committee reported the bill. "The 
first clause being read, there was much puzzling about settling 
the boundary line. Mr. Edmund Burke, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Baker, 
and Sir Charles Whitworth went up stairs, in order to settle it, 
while the House was supposed to be proceeding upon it.* Mr. 
Burke then returned with the amendments; but only some of them 
were agreed to ; and from that partial agreement resulted the de- 
scription of boundaries as it stands. .The whole object of the 
alteration was to protect the Provinces of New York and Penn- 
sylvania from encroachment, or to obtain favourable boundaries 
for them. There was and could be, in these objects, no design to 
alter the western boundary, as it stood in the original draft ; and 
the Mississippi being once reached, there is no alteration in the 
wording of the remainder of the description. As first proposed, 
and as finally adopted, the line was to run " northward " to the 
territory of the Hudson's Bay Company. The substitution of the 
part of the more particular description immediately preceding the 
word "northward," for the general description in the original 
draft, had for its object the protection of Pennsylvania from possi- 
ble encroachment, against which the heirs of Penn had protested. 
That description necessarily drew a line partly contingent and 
partly certain, as far west as the junction of the Ohio with the 

* Cavendish's Debates. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 55 

Mississippi ; but it could not have been intended to alter the posi- 
tion of the western boundary of the Province of Quebec, which, 
in the original draft, was indisputably the Mississippi river. 

The Commission of Guy Carleton, as Governor of Canada, under 
the Quebec Act, supplies a missing link : it follows the description 
of the Quebec Act, word for word, as far as the word " northward," 
where the difficulty commences, and it removes that difficulty by 
adding " along the eastern bank of the said river to the southern 
boundary granted to the merchants adventurers of England 
trading to Hudson's Bay." The only addition here made to the 
description given in the Quebec Act, is to be found in the words 
directing where the western line of boundary is to run in its 
northward course. The vagueness of the expression in tha't Act 
must have become apparent on an examination, and the intention 
of its authors may fairly be inferred from the words supplied in 
the commission. The same persons who were responsible for the 
Act must have drafted or examined the commission, which, by its 
helpful additions, becomes explanatory. 

The geographical error which assumes the source of the Missis- 
sippi to be coincident with the dividing line between Canada and 
the British territory on the north — here assumed to be the terri- 
tory of the Hudson's Bay Company — was an error of the times. 
It was then supposed, and was assumed in the Treaty of 1783, 
nine years afterwards, between England and the new-born Repub- 
lic of the United States, that the sources of the Mississippi exten- 
ded above the north-west corner of the Lake of the Woods. That 
Treaty traced the line of international boundary from the north-west 
angle of Nova Scotia " to the most north-western point " of the 
Lake of the Woods, where it was to run " on a due west course 
to the river Mississippi." It was not discovered for several years 
after that such a line would leave the source of the Mississippi con- 
siderably to the south. The intention of the Quebec Act clearly 
was to make the northern boundary of Canada abut on the sou- 
thern boundary of the Hudson Bay Company's territory ; and to 
do this the western line would have to pass north of Turtle Lake, 
the source of the Mississippi, which Mr. Thompson, by whose sur- 



56 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

vey in the latter part of the last century the error of the Treaty 
of 1783 was discovered, places in lat 47° 39' 15" and longitude 
95° 12' 45". The natural way of producing the northward line 
above the source of the Mississippi would • be either to follow" the 
meridian of that source or to continue in the same general 
direction in which it had followed the east bank of the Missis- 
sippi, from the point of the discharge of the Ohio. Though the in- 
ternational boundary line at this point was settled on the parallel 
of 49° north latitude, it might have been a question whether the line 
should not be produced to the latitude of the most north-western 
point of the Lake of the Woods, which the Ashburton Treaty 
places in lat. 49° 23' 55", long. 95° 14' 38". For the purpose of 
this argument, we must assume with the Quebec Act and the Com- 
mission of Guy Carleton, that where Canada ends on the north 
the Hudson's Bay Territory commenced. We have in this case to 
do with the officially assumed, not the historical or geographical 
fact ; for it is beyond question that it was within the competence 
of Parliament and the Crown to restrict the northern boundary of 
Canada to any convenient limits. If the Quebec Act alone gov- 
erned the western boundary of Canada, it would not follow that, 
west of the easternmost point at which the international boundary 
between the United States and British territory strikes the par- 
allel of 49° N. latitude, the boundary of Ontario does not extend, 
for it might depend upon other considerations than those which 
determined the international boundary. Eastward of this point, 
we have to fall back on the line of the Treaty of Utrecht, for by 
that~treaty the southern boundary of the Hudson's Bay Territory 
must be determined. 

At this time the Imperial Government was very careful not to 
perform any act under the great seal of which the legality could 
be brought in question. When there was room for doubt, or objec- 
tion was likely to be raised, the act was done under the King's 
signet and sign-manual. " By these means," says Mr. Maseres, 
" they (the acts done) have avoided the objections to them which 
might have arisen from those two great lawyers, the Lord Chan- 
cellor and the King's Attorney General, by whom all letters 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 57 

patent under the great seal are inspected and examined before they 
pass, but who have nothing to do with instructions under the 
signet and sign-manual." "Accordingly," he adds, "we see the 
case of our own Province of Quebec, that so long as the delegating 
the powers of legislation to the Governor and Council only, with- 
out an assembly of the people, was a matter of doubtful and deli- 
cate nature, not clearly and manifestly within the compass of the 
King's legal prerogative (which was the case until the late Que- 
bec Act), His Majesty's Ministers of State thought fit to advise 
His Majesty to delegate these powers to successive Governors of 
this Province, General Carleton and General Murray, only by an 
instruction under his signet and sign-manual, which accompanied 
the respective commissions in the years 1763 and 1768, but not to 
mention them in the commissions themselves under the great 
seal, which contained only the common clause for delegating the 
powers of legislation to the Governor, Council and Assembly." 

The commission of Guy Carleton under the great seal, ex- 
tending the authority of this Government as far west as the Mis- 
sissippi, will not be deemed of doubtful authority, especially as the 
boundaries described in it are, except a few words of necessary 
explanation, found in the Quebec Act, the passing of which made 
a new commission necessary. 

But does the western boundary of Canada depend altogether on 
the Quebec Act as illustrated by the commission of Guy Carleton ? 
Was not a new description of the boundaries of Canada given in 
1791 ? This has been denied, but upon an insufficient examina- 
tion of facts,* and it is certain that a new description of the west- 
ern boundary of Canada was rendered necessary by the treaty of 
1783, by which a large part of the Province was ceded to the 
United States ; and such description, as we shall afterwards see, 
was made, under the great seal, in 1786. The Constitution Act 
of 1791 (31st Geo. III., cap. 31) states that " His Majesty has been 
pleased to signify by his message to both Houses of Parliament 
his royal intention to divide his Province of Quebec into two sepa- 
rate Provinces, to be called the Province of Upper and the Province 

* Canadian Freeholder. 



58 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

of Lower Canada," and proceeds to make provisions under which 
the change intended is to be carried out. The Act in this recital 
recognizes the right of His Majesty to form and declare such an 
intention ; and Parliament does its part in providing the machinery- 
necessary to effect the division. No designation of limits is made 
in the Act : that was afterwards done by order-in-council. The 
order-in-council was passed in August 1791, some time after the 
prorogation of Parliament, which took place on the 10th June. 
Between the time when the King sent the message to Parliament 
and the passing of the order-in-council and the issue of the pro- 
clamation founded thereon, the Act of Parliament was interjected 
and formed the authority for the division of the Province of Quebec 
into two Provinces. The proclamation contains a description of 
boundaries in terms different from those used in the Quebec Act : 

" Whereas we have thought fit, by and with the advice of our 
Privy Council, by our order-in-council dated in the month of 
August last, to order that our Province of Quebec should be di- 
vided into two distinct Provinces, to be called Upper and Lower 
Canada, by separating the said two Provinces according to the 
following line of division, viz., 'To commence at a stone boundary 
on the north bank of the Lake St. Francis, at the cove of Pointe 
au Bodet, in the limit between the township of Lancaster and the 
seigneurie of New Longueuil, running along the said limit in the 
direction of north thirty-four degrees west to the westernmost 
angle of the said seigneurie of the New Longueuil, thence along the 
north-western boundary of the seigneurie of Vaudreuil, running 
north twenty-five degrees east until it strikes the Outawas Biver, 
to ascend the said river into the Lake Tami seaming, and from the 
head of the said lake by a line drawn due north until it strikes 
the boundary line of Hudson's Bay, including all the territory to 
the westward and southward of the said line to the utmost extent 
of country commonly called or known by the name of Canada.' " 

•The same description is repeated in the proclamation (here also 
within quotation marks) of Alured Clarke, Lieutenant-Governor 
and Commander in Chief of the Province of Quebec, dated No- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 59 

vember 18, 1791, fixing the date at which the Imperial Act 31 
Geo. III., should go into operation. 

It will hardly be denied that there was sufficient authority in 
the Act of 1791 for the order-in-council and proclamation, leav- 
ing out of sight the fact that the designation of the boundaries of 
Provinces was generally treated as a matter of prerogative. Does 
the order-in-council, which is made known to us by the proclama- 
tion of November 18, 1791, in effect make a new designation of 
boundaries ? It certainly makes use of different language from that 
employed in the Quebec Act. But it makes the northern boun- 
dary of Upper Canada, now Ontario, abut upon the southern 
frontier of Hudson's Bay. If the expression " boundary line of 
Hudson's Bay " be intended to mean the same thing as " the 
southern boundary of the territory granted to the merchant 
adventurers trading to Hudson's Bay," there ^is in fact no differ- 
ence as to the northern boundary of Upper Canada. If the same 
territorial division is intended by both forms of expression, it is 
not difficult to conceive a reason for the change. The Quebec 
Act, in assuming that the Hudson's Bay possessed territorial rights 
as farwest as the source of the Mississippi assumed what wasnot true 
in point of fact. Before the year 1763, England held actual posses- 
sion of very little territory on the North of Canada. The whole 
country west of the chain of waters from Fort William to Lake 
Winnipeg and westward to the Rocky Mountains was in actual oc- 
cupation of the French. If England did not obtain this country 
by the Treaty of 1763, she obtained it in consequence of the 
evacuation by the French after that date. The French, driven 
from the whole country in the north-west as far as the source of 
the Mississippi, could not maintain a footing in the Valley of the 
Saskatchewan. Some misgivings on this point were expressed in 
England when the preliminaries of peace were agreed upon. 

"Would it not be necessary, or at least prudent," it was asked, "to 
ascertain the boundaries of the territory ceded under the general 
and indefinite name of Canada and its dependencies ? Was it not 
possible for France, some time or other, perhaps as soon as the 
fleets and armies of England were reduced or disbanded, to dia- 



00 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

tinguish between Canada, properly so called, according to the first 
or ancient limits and the vast extent of country which the French 
Canadians were daily adding to their government towards the 
north, and make that distinction the foundation of the claim 
upon which to justify their breach of a future peace by invading 
and raising new settlements and fortresses to cut off the Indian 
trade with Quebec, and to snatch and seize upon all they have 
ceded in pretence of some defect in the Treaty % * * 

The stipulations they insisted on and obtained on the banks of the 
Mississippi and the Lakes with a free navigation, suggest some 
such like intention, against which nothing can so effectually pro- 
tect posterity as a geographical delineation of boundaries and 
abutments of these countries and places, which the French were 
actually in possession of, pretended a right unto, had any interest 
in, by or under the Government of Canada at the commencement 
of the present, or at any time during its continuation, together 
with all the islands, bays, rivers, lakes and shores within the des- 
cription of the said limits."* A pamphlet, evidently semi-official, 
published about the same time, under the title of " An Enquiry 
into the Merits of the Supposed Preliminaries of Peace" was in- 
tended to silence objections such as these. The argument was that 
natural frontiers had been obtained on the banks of the Mississippi 
which it would never be possible to dispute. " We have gained," 
says the writer, " as conquerors, the country on both sides the 
disputed frontier, to the north, and have removed our frontier to 
the south, beyond even our pretensions, by the addition of a great 
part of Louisiana." 

There cannot be a question that England obtained possession of 
all the country from above Lake Nipegon north-west to the source 
of the Saskatchewan, either by or as a result of the Treaty of 
1763. If the treaty did not cover it, as part of Canada, or under 
the name of a dependency of Canada, it was afterwards taken 
possession of as a country abandoned by its previous owners. Was 
that north-west country known as part of Canada in 1791, and 

+ Trial of Charles de Reinhard, at Quebec, 1818. 
* Monitor or British Freeholder, January 15, 1763. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 61 

was it generally or commonly so known ? If so, at the time when 
the Order in Council of August, 1791, was made, the northern 
boundary of Upper Canada would deflect northward from a point 
east of the Kaministiquia, Dog Lake, Rainy Lake, and the Lake of 
the Woods route to Lake Winnipeg ; and all west and south of 
that line would properly form part of Canada. 

England claimed no more on the north-west coast of America 
than she had been the first European nation to occupy, by the 
creation of trading or fishing establishments, with the consent of 
the natives. In the discussion which preceded the convention of 
the Escurial, the British Government contended that English 
subjects had an indisputable right to the enjoyment of a free and 
uninterrupted navigation, commerce and fishery, and the posses- 
sion of such establishments as they should form with the consent 
of the natives of the country, not previously occupied by any 
European nation. France exercised the same right in the north- 
west previous to the Conquest, without opposition or protest on 
the part of England or the Hudson's Bay Company. Thus she 
was the first European nation to occupy those interior regions, in 
the only way they could then be occupied : by the creation of 
trading posts ; and with such consent on the part of the natives 
as enabled her to maintain a footing there. Had the natives been 
collectively hostile to this extension of French establishments, 
their vast numbers would easily have enabled them to massacre 
the small bands of Frenchmen whom it was possible to send so 
great a distance, and who sufficed for the trade of the region. 
Such of the French laws as were applicable to these wild countries 
were in force there ; and notably those which regulated the fur 
trade. 

The discoverers were not unauthorized adventurers : their 
whole proceedings were regulated in accordance with the settled 
policy of the Government. As early as the year 1716, M. Vaud- 
reuil and Begon wrote to the French Government that the dis- 
covery of the Western Ocean would be advantageous to the 
colony ; and the Council of Marine approved of the plan of estab- 
lishing three posts which had been proposed, with the condition 



02 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

that the enterprize should cost nothing to the king : the farmers 
of the posts to indemnify themselves by the profits of the fur 
trade. The first post was to be on the Kaministiquia ; the 
second was to be Takamani88u, toward the Christinaux ; and the 
third, when the necessary knowledge should have been obtained 
from the Indians, at the Lac des Assenipoeller (Lake Winnipeg). 
After this was done, the crown was willing to share or bear the 
expense of continuing the discoveries, an estimate of which M. 
Vaudreuil was asked to furnish. On the 7th July, 1717, Lieut, 
de la Noue set out on this enterprize with no less than eight can- 
non.* Acting under this delegation of legal authority, the dis- 
coverers by whom the commerce of France was extended to the 
foot of the Rocky Mountains, added to the province this vast 
dependency in the north-west. The commissions of the French 
governors, which extended over the country north of the sources 
of the St. Lawrence, so far as the land extended, came to have a 
new meaning and to represent. legitimate authority, as discovery 
and trading settlements were advanced. 

In 1774, the territory of the Hudson's Bay Company, which 
Avas to form the northern boundary of Canada, must, on these 
principles, have been restricted to the region west of Hudson's Bay, 
of which it was in actual occupation. The " having touched here 
and there upon a coast," said Queen Elizabeth to the Spanish 
Ambassador, " and given names to a few rivers and capes, were 
such insignificant things as could in no wise entitle them [the 
Spaniards] to a property farther than the parts where they actually 
settled and continued to occupy ; " a principle which has been 
acted on, says Falconer, " by nearly every European nation,"*f- 

* Archives de Paris. 

t At the same time, no nation has been perfectly consistent in adhering to this view ; 
and most nations have occasionally shifted their ground according to circumstances. 
Louis XIV., in his grant of Louisiana to Crozat, included "the River St. Louis, for- 
merly called the Mississippi, from the sea-shore to the Illinois ; together with the 
River St. Philip, formerly called the Missouri river, and the St. Jerome, formerly the 
Wabash, with all the countries, territories, lakes inland, and the rivers emptying 
directly or indirectly into that part of the River St.' Louis," at a time, 1712, when the 
French Government had no correct information of the extent of country traversed by 
the Missouri. When, in 1824, Rush, the American Minister to London, cited the 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 63 

and which will apply equally well to the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany. 

In the year the Quebec Act was passed, the Company took up 
a position on the east bank of Sturgeon Lake, latitude 53 deg. 
56 min., and longitude 102 deg. 15 min. ; where, says Sir Alex- 
ander Mackenzie, they "became more jealous of their fellow- 
subjects, and perhaps with more cause, than they had been of 
those of France."* This was the most distant point to which the 
Company had extended south-westward ; and as the advance into 
the interior must have been by the Nelson and Hayes Rivers, it 
follows that it had not extended as far south as Lake Winnipagoes. 

When France ceded Canada, and ceded or vacated its vast de- 
pendencies in the north-west — if dependency and not part of 
Canada proper that must be considered — the north-west territory 

Georgia Charter of 1732, which purported to pass all territories along the sea coast, 
11 from the Savannah to the most southern stream of another great river called the 
Altamaha, and, westwards from the heads of said rivers, in a direct line to the South 
Sea," to prove that the discovery by Gray of the mouth of the Columbia river ought 
to give the United States the whole of the water-courses connected with that river, 
the British- Plenipotentiaries replied that " Great Britain considered the whole of the 
unoccupied parts of America as being open to her future settlements, in like manner 
as before. They included within these parts as well that portion of the north-west 
coast lying between the 42nd and the 51st degrees of latitude, as any other parts." 
(Rush : Memoranda of a Residence at the Court of London.) This was to revert to the 
principle that occupation and settlement were necessary to confer a title. 

* This is a greater achievement than several English writers credit the Company 
with. In 1795 Winterbotham gives the position of five of its posts on Hudson's Bay, 
and distinctly states that this was all they possessed. But Sir Alexander Mackenzie 
must here be taken as a better authority, since his interest being identified with a rival 
organization, would prevent him giving the Hudson's Bay Company credit for what 
it had not done. Besides, his personal opportunities of obtaining information were 
of the best. In 1798 the Company had established Buckingham House, on the 
Saskatchewan, longitude 106 deg. 27 min. 20 sec. {American Gazetteer). In 1773 Cana- 
dian Fur Traders began to divert a large portion of the trade of the Company to 
Montreal ; and as late as 1816 we have the authority of the Earl of Selkirk for saying 
that the number of its employes was less than one-third as many as those of the 
North-West Company. But if the Hudson's Bay Company had found its way west- 
ward to the points mentioned, in the last ten years of the last century, it had pre- 
viously crouched helplessly on the shores of Hudson's Bay. Captain Middleton, who 
made an official visit to that region, states what would be incredible on any less 
authority : that in 1722-3 the Company had not ten men in its service who knew the 
use of a canoe, or who could ascend a river by the only means then available. 



64 ' UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

could not, in virtue of that fact, become part of the Hudson's Bay 
Company's possessions. The Company received no new charter;* 
and it had not in 1791 proceeded to occupy those territories 
vacated by France. It is true that, in 1790, the Company 
established the position of the west shore of Athabaska Lake; but 
this was not done in the way of discovery, and it was not followed 
by occupation. Mr. Joseph Frobisher, a free trader, had previously 
penetrated as far as latitude 55 deg. 26 min., longitude 108 deg. ; 
and he had been followed by others, in whose service was one 
Peter Pond, whose random estimates placed the west end of 
Athabaska Lake within a hundred miles of the Pacific Ocean, as 
laid down by Captain Cook. If this were true, the geographical 
discovery would be of very great importance ; and the British 
Government directed the Hudson's Bay Company to ascertain the 
fact. After five years' delay, it performed this task in 1790.-f 
That was all it had done in the north-west ; and it could claim 
neither the merit of discovery nor the fact of occupation. And 
even if it could, Athabaska belongs to the Arctic water-shed, and 
its discovery could convey no title to the valley of the Saskat- 
chewan. The Company's claim, as defined on the map of 1857, 
evidently proceeds on the admission that the possession of one 
watershed confers no right to the other ; for while the Company 
assumes to appropriate all the territory on the eastern watershed 
of Hudson's Bay, it leaves out of its assumed limits the southern 
and the Arctic water-sheds. 

Eight years before the Order in Council of 1791 was passed, the 
North-west Company had been formed to carry on the fur trade 
in the valley of the Saskatchewan and the whole North-west. It 
was not till two years after the Order in Council that the Hud- 
son's Bay Company sent its agents there, and from that time the 



* " The charter gives the Company an exclusive trade of all the country which lies 
round Hudson's Bay ; but I apprehend that since 6 Anne, c. 37 (f . 15), no charter can 
be granted to exclude or restrain any subject from a full and free trade to America."— 
Anthony Stokes : View of the Constitutions of the British Colonies in North America, 
1783. The best English lawyers took the same view. 

t Thompson, MS., and Mackenzie, General History of the Fur Trade. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 65 

North-west Company carried on an unequal competition,* owing 
to the same cause that had rendered the overland trade of Hudson's 
Bay so difficult to the French settlers in Canada, till the two 
companies finally amalgamated, in 1S21. ^ 

It was not till this latter date that the Hudson's Bay Company 
came to hold the exclusive control of the fur trade over the North- 
west. In presence of these facts, how can we regard the Hudson's 
Bay territory, so far as its extent depended on occupation, as ex- 
tending south-west of Sturgeon Lake, latitude 53 deg. 56 mim, 
and longitude 102 deg. 15 min., in 1774 and 1791, even supposing 
it had a right to take up territory held by the French previous 
to the cession of Canada ? And without occupation, it could have 
no rights. If we assume a right derived from its Charter to 
occupy the whole country from Hudson's Bay to the eastern side 
of the Rocky Mountains, this assumption raises the enquiry whe- 
ther that right was not necessarily subject to a condition similar 
to that insisted on by England when the Convention of the 
Escurial was negotiated ? If the right of England depended, 
against other nations, upon actual possession, could the Crown 
convey to a company larger powers than it possessed ? This very 
Charter prohibits, in express terms, the Company from entering 
on lands " possessed by the subjects of any other Christian Prince 
or State." The case of the north-west territories is this : their 
lands were not possessed by any other Christian Prince, in 1670, 
when this Charter was granted. But, the first sovereign into 
whose possession they fell was His Most Christian Majesty the 
King of France. England did not complain, and could not com- 
plain, because there was no act of dispossession ; no encroachment 
on anything previously possessed by her. The company might 
have taken possession of these territories if it had preceded any 
other Christian Prince. But when it failed to do so, it lost the 
opportunity and the right ; and even the Crown which granted 
its Charter, must, on its own principles, acknowledge the right to 
go along with the actual possession of France. It may even be 

* Mackenzie. 



66 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

said that the Crown had grave cause of complaint against the 
Company, for throwing away the opportunity of extending its 
dominion by neglecting to take possession of this country. 
Could the Company, after such a practical abandonment of its 
contingent rights — contingent on a prior exercise of the act of 
possession — for more than a century, during which a foreign power 
had slipped in and held possession till dislodged by the chances of 
war ; could it resume, at pleasure, and at this distance of time, 
rights the abandonment of which might have proved highly detri- 
mental to the nation ? Was it to be considered as being as 
completely reinstated in its rights as if there had been no aban- 
donment or suspension of them ; and was that arbitrary resump- 
tion to have the effect of giving the Company a monopoly of the 
trade of the country in question against all other British 
subjects ? 

These questions must be answered in the affirmative before we 
can assume that the southern and the western boundary of the 
Hudson's Bay Company's territory extended beyond their actual 
possessions of the country, in 1774 and 1791. 

If the Order in Council of August, 1791, does not change the 
northern boundary of Upper Canada, but leaves it as fixed by the 
Quebec Act, does it make any change in the western boundary ? 
It includes in Upper Canada, " all the territory to the westward 
and southward of the said [northern] line the utmost extent of 
country commonly called or known by the name of Canada." 
This language appeals to the common or popular knowledge on 
the subject; and we should be quite justified in seeking to ascer- 
tain what that was. 

The limits of Canada had been constantly expanding under the 
French. In 1679, Hennepin describes Frontenac (Kingston) as 
being so far west of Canada as to have a much milder climate.* 

Del'Isle, of the French Academy, whose celebrity as a geographer 
has seldom been equalled, placed the western boundary of Canada, 



* Decouverte d'un pays plus grand que V Europe, situe'dans VAmerique entre le Jfou- 
veau Mexique et la Mer Glaciale. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 67 

in 1718, at the head waters of the rivers that empty into Lake 
Michigan* 

As we approach the period of the conquest, the bounds of Can- 
ada are immensely expanded. Discoveries in the distant north- 
west come to be described as " in the west of Canada." There is 
a map in the Marine Department at Paris, where it was sent by 
Gallissoniere, Governor of Canada, dated 1750, and entitled : 
Carte de la decouverte dans Vouest dw Canada dressSe sur les 
memoires deM. de la Verandrye,\ on which most of the posts 
already enumerated in the north-west are shown. This shows 
that the Governor of Canada, in 1750, considered the whole valley 
of the Saskatchewan as part of Canada. Mr. Thomas Falconer, in 
his work on The Discovery of the Mississippi, says : " The official 
map used by France in its negotiations with Great Britain, (for 
the cession of Canada, in 1763,) incontestably proves that the 
country north and north-west of the Mississippi was ceded as the 
Province of Canada." That map, if it can be found, or an attested 
copy of it procured, would have a very important bearing on this 
question. Mr. Falconer made researches in the Archives of Paris 
before he published his work, which was issued in 1844, and found 
there many documents bearing on the Oregon question, which had 
never been published ; it is natural to conclude that he there met 
with the map here alluded to. We do not know what proof there 
is that this map was to be looked on as explanatory of the Treaty. 
We may assume that it was not attached to the Treaty, nor re- 
quired to be read in connection with it, nor signed by the pleni- 
potentiaries ; but if it was used by the French, its importance lies 
in the fact that they could not be interested in magnifying the 



• It is necessary to guard against spurious maps published under his name, some of 
them more than half a century after his death. Among this class must be ranked that 
of V Itineraire des Frangais dans la Louisiane, published at Paris in 1802. It purports 
to have undergone review, correction and augmentation, in 1782 ; fifty-six years after 
its author had died. The description of Louisiane in the book refers to a period seventy 
years anterior to the date of the " corrections" on the map ; and the one is a direct 
contradiction of the other. But even this map may be appealed to as showing the 
opinion of French map-makers that, in 1730, Canada extended to the Mississippi. 

+ I have had engraved a tracing of it, in the Parliamentary Library at Ottawa. 



68 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

extent of the possessions they were ceding ; and it is therefore 
not suspicious evidence, as it might have been if France had been 
receiving instead of making cession of a territory. 

The wording of the Treaty is large enough to cover the terri- 
tories shewn on this map, since it embraces not only Canada " with 
all its dependencies," but also " everything that depends on the 
said countries [Canada, Cape Breton and all the other islands in 
the Gulf and River of St. Lawrence], lands, islands and coasts, 
with the sovereignty, property, possession, and all the rights ac- 
quired by treaty or otherwise, which the Most Christian King 
and the Crown of France have had till now over the said coun- 
tries." Probably the question of the extent of country ceded 
in 1763 would be greatly affected by the map mentioned by 
Mr. Falconer; for if we go to ordinary works which contain geo- 
graphical descriptions, they will be found to contradict one an- 
other, and the best of them are necessarily of subordinate autho- 
rity ; many can be demonstrated to be wrong. In the latter cate- 
gory must be placed all the works or maps that pretend to extend 
New France to the Pacific, and the older they are the farther 
from the Pacific will the western frontier of Canada be found to 
have extended, at the time they were published. Even when 
published under the authority of the Government, they are of no 
value if contradicted by indisputable facts in the historical pro- 
gress of discovery. M. Duflot de Mofras, in a work on California, 
appeals to a map attached to the memoirs of the Commissioners of 
England and France, extending Canada to the Pacific ; though I 
believe that no proof can be adduced that a single Frenchman had 
at that time crossed the Rocky Mountains. For the same pur- 
pose, he quotes Lescarbot, an author who wrote at a time (of the 
three editions of his Nouvelle France, the last then published was 
published in 1618) when Lake Superior was known to the French, 
if at all, only through the Indians. 

It has sometimes been contended that places of considerable 
importance would pass as dependencies of a territory ceded in the 
neighbourhood of which they were situated, if not specially re- 
served. Acadie or Nova Scotia, with its appurtenances and depen- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 69 

dencies, was ceded to England by the Treaty of Utrecht, " with its 
ancient limits." The English Commissioners afterwards contended 
that the islands in the mouth of the River and the Gulf of the St. 
Lawrence, as well as the Island of Cape Breton naturally formed 
a dependency of Nova Scotia ; and this at a time when Cape 
Breton, forming the key of the St. Lawrence, was looked on as 
of far more importance than the whole north-west territories. 
•' Another argument," they said, in the Sieur Durand's memorial, 
"for excluding that part of the continent which lies between the 
isthmus and the river of Canada, from being a part of Acadia, is 
drawn from the reservations of the islands situated in the mouth 
of the River and of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to France, in the 13th 
article of the Treaty of Utrecht, whereby the Island of Cape Breton 
is also reserved : but this, upon examination, will be found to con- 
clude against France's pretensions, for no other reason for France's 
reserving them and Cape Breton in that treaty than that they 
were part of or dependent upon Acadia or Nova Scotia, and would 
otherwise have passed to Great Britain by the cession of it in the 
12th article. If they were not dependent upon Acadia, there was 
no danger of Great Britain's acquiring a right to them by the ces- 
sion of Acadia, and consequently not the least occasion for reserving 
them to France by that treaty." If all those islands would have 
parsed as a dependency of Nova Scotia, if not specially reserved, 
can there be a doubt that all the country occupied by the French 
in connection with Canada would pass to England either as a part 
of Canada or as a dependency thereof ? 

In the earlier negotiations which preceded the peace of ] 763, a 
line of boundary was agreed upon between the Governments of 
England and France, on the west * This line was alleged on the 
one side to have been drawn on a map by the Marquis de Vaud- 
reuil when he surrendered Canada by capitulation to General 



* It is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain in Canada a complete account of every- 
thing connected with the cession of this country to England. The last annual report 
of the Montreal Historical Society mentions the public sale in England of a volume, 
described as " unique," during the last year, for £107 stg., which contained all the in- 
formation obtainable, when it was published, on this subject. 



70 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Amherst. This map was produced by the English in a subsequent 
negotiation at Paris, in 1761, and the line marked upon it, what- 
ever it was, agreed upon, by the two Governments, as a true de- 
nial cation of the bounds of Canada on the west side and apparently 
also on another side. ' But the negotiations failed for the time, on 
a point wholly unconnected with Canada; and a different boundary 
was finally accepted, on the west. Vaudreuil afterwards denied 
that the limits marked on this map were correct ; but that in no 
way detracts from the fact that the two negotiating governments 
agreed to accept them. The merits and demerits of that line were 
much discussed in the publications of the day, and its position 
seems to have been well understood ; but I have not anywhere 
met with an exact description of it. The only sketch given of it, 
that I have seen, is in the British answer to the ultimatum of 
France, August 16, 1761. This answer declares that "the King 
will not desert his claim to the entire and total cession of all Can- 
ada and its dependencies, without any limits or exceptions what- 
ever." This tone, taken at first, was continued to the end of the 
negotiations. " Canada," said the British answer, "according to 
the lines of its limits traced by the Marquis de Vaudreuil himself, 
when that Governor surrendered the said Province by capitulation 
to General Amherst, " comprehends on the one side the Lakes 
Huron, Michigan and Superior, and the said line drawn to Red 
Lake, takes in by a serpentine progress the River Oaubache, [Wa- 
bash] as far as its junction with the Ohio, and from thence extends 
itself along the latter river as far, inclusively, as its influx into 
the Mississippi."' On which side did the line comprehend the 
three lakes ? Was it on the north % England had little reason to 
trouble herself about boundaries on that side ; since she would 
thenceforth be the owner of the whole territor} r . A southern line 
was very necessary; for there the dispute in which the war originated 
began. A line drawn south-west from the western extremity of 
Lake Erie might be said to embrace the three lakes mentioned ; 
but then comes the difficulty how to connect the Wabash with Red 
Lake ? The writer of the answer mus't be supposed to be looking 
at the map : he sees, let us suppose further, a line drawn from near 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 71 

the west end of Lake Erie till it strikes the source of the Wabash ; 
notes that it is drawn to Red Lake, on the north ; and that in fol- 
lowing the Wabash till it joins the Ohio, it takes a serpentine 
course southward, and that it follows the Ohio down to the Mis- 
sissippi. This supposed line is not an impossible one ; but we 
must regard as singularly deficient a description of it which did 
not trace it along the Mississippi. 

But this, I think it can be shown, from the contemporary writers, 
was not the line of 1761, and that line was not drawn along the 
Mississippi. The author of the Enquiry into the Merits of the Sup- 
posed Preliminaries of Peace is sufficiently explicit to remove all 
doubt on this point. He says : " The first enquiry into the merits 
of the peace is whether it will answer the purposes of the war ? 
The present war with France was began for the security of our 
North American Colonies ; and the northern colonies can never 
be exposed after the cession of Canada : the late minister required 
this cession : the present ministry, it is said, require exactly the 
same. For the security of our new acquisition and our more 
southern colonies, where we could not demand cessions, as we had 
not made conquests, it was necessary to ascertain the boundaries 
between the French and our territory. Between Canada and 
Louisiana, the line drawn by the Marquis de Vaudreuil was, in 
the late regulations, chosen as the boundary between Louisiana 
and our Colonies ; the limits were those marked by the bounds of 
nations whose countries and their extent are very little known to 
us : in the present Treaty, it is said, our limits are fixed by the 
banks of the Mississippi, which is not only a boundary that can 
never be disputed, but at the same it adds to our Indian Empire 
all the nations that have ever annoyed us, and many of the most 
valuable French settlements in Louisiana." 

The Auditor, a periodical publication, December 9, 1762, said : 
" The Marquis de Vaudreuil's map of Canada would have been a 
disputable boundary, and it has been lately urged that our secu- 
rity would have been precarious, as the French were in the eastern 
part of Louisiana to border closely upon our back settlements. 
These objections are now fully removed by making the Missis- 



i'l UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

sippi from its source to its mouth [not quite] in the Bay of Mexico, 
the western limit of our North American Empire. The French 
settlers in Louisiana to the west of the Mississippi will never be 
able, hemmed in as they are from all free communication with 
Europe, to kindle up the flames of another American war." 

It is evident from these extracts from publications of the 
time, that the line on Yaudreuil's map stopped short of the Mis- 
sissippi. 

I apprehend it was coincident with the dividing line between 
Canada and Louisiana ; and that it stopped short at the head 
waters of the Illinois. But this is of no consequence in the present 
enquiry. We know that this line touched Red Lake, and there, 
I think, it terminated. The British Government describes it as being 
" drawn to Red Lake," not as striking Red Lake in its passage. 
Red Lake, if this reading be correct, was its most north-western 
point. There are two Red Lakes, either of which might be in- 
tended ; but which of the two was intended it is perhaps not pos- 
sible to determine with certainty without seeing the map. One 
is near the source of the Mississippi, and its point of junction with 
Red Lake River is placed by Mr. David Thompson (M. S.) in lati- 
tude 47° 58' 15", and longitude 93° 35' 37". He describes it as a 
fine sheet of water ; and gives its dimensions as thirty miles by 
ten. In earlier times, the North- West Company had an occasion- 
al post there. The source of the Mississippi I find by comparison 
— Mr. Thompson being again the guide — is 29 min. north of the 
Lake, and 2° 37' 8" west of it. It was evidently frequented by 
the French, as is proved by its having received its baptism in the 
language of that people. I have nowhere seen it called Lac 
Rouge, but in Henry's MS. journal. There is another Red Lake 
apparently above the 51st parallel, and between 94° and 95° W. 
longitude. 

If the position of the Red Lake nearest the source of the Miss- 
issippi be correctly given by Mr. Thompson, this line must have 
been set aside by the Treaty of 1763 ; for in going to the source 
of the Mississippi, the western boundary line of the treaty would 
pass it 29 min., and would go 2° 37' 38" west of it. We know 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 73 

that the western frontier line of the Treaty ran farther west than 
the line of Vaudreuil's map ; and this agrees with the above com- 
parison. It follows that if Vaudreuil \s line was drawn to that Red 
Lake which is one of the sources of Red River, it was set aside b} 7 
the Treaty. If it was drawn to the other Red Lake, must we 
regard it as dividing Canada from its dependencies ? It seems 
to have been generally assumed at the time the Treaty was con- 
cluded, that the Vaudreuil line was wholly wiped out by the final 
arrangement which gave England the Mississippi for a western 
boundary line, and that conclusion must, I think, be accepted as 
correct. 

The significance of the Vaudreuil line was this : England and 
France agreed upon a western boundary for Canada, in the early 
stage of the negotiations, which takes us west of the meridian 
of the east end of Rainy Lake ; and the limits were extended 
over two degrees farther west in the definitive treaty of peace. 
We have a right to appeal to these facts in resolving the 
problem of the Order in Council and Proclamation of 1791, what 
is the " utmost extent of country commonly called, or known, as 
Canada?" It cannot fall short of the easternmost of these points ; 
for that was agreed, at one time, by both governments to be its 
true limit ; and in the definitive treaty of peace Canada was made 
to extend to the Mississippi. 

The Illinois country ceded by the Treaty had not lately been a 
part of Canada proper : it had for fifty-five years been incorpo- 
rated with Louisiana. At a Council of State, held at Paris, Sep- 
tember 27, 1717, the King being present, the annexation of Illinois 
to Louisiana was decreed. An Extrait des Registres du Conseil 
d' Etat sets forth the whole proceeding with the reasons therefor ; 
and is duly attested as a correct copy. On thel9th June,1718, the 
King notified the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Lieutenant-Governor of 
New France, and Louis Begon, Intendant, and the officers of the 
Superior Council at Quebec, to read and publish the Letters Pa- 
tent, in form of edict of August 1717, establishing the Compagnie 
d'Occident and the Arret of the Council of the 27th September, 
1717, pourtant et quiv/ait etincorpore le pays des Illinois a la Louis- 



74 IN SETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

lane, and ordering them to be kept and observed according to 
their form and tenor. After this, the inhabitants of Canada could 
not trade in beaver skins in Illinois. 

In 1731, the King accepted the surrender of the Province of 
Louisiana and of the Illinois country from the Company, to take 
effect on the 1st July. Louis XV., in a letter to M. de Beauhar- 
nois and Hoquart, dated May 8, 1731, was undetermined whether 
the Illinois country should remain dependent on the government 
of Louisiana ; he thought that would be the most desirable 
course, and he instructed these functionaries to examine whether 
it would be more convenient to disconnect it from that province. 
I have not met with their answer; but it is certain that Illinois 
continued connected with Louisiana till the conquest. During 
the war, LI. Bertholot, the commandant at Illinois, received sup- 
plies from New Orleans so long as they could be spared ; and in 
1747-48 he was reduced to a condition in which there was not 
an ell of cloth or a particle of ammunition either in the King's stores 
or among the traders. 

Illinois was ceded with Canada, as a dependency of Canada, it 
must be presumed ; for Louisiana was always dependent on the 
Government of New France, but not as part of Canada. Could it 
then be known as part of Canada in 1791 ? The Province of 
Quebec was extended to the Mississippi by Governor Carleton's 
commission in 1774. Was Canada in 1791 of less extent, in this 
direction, than the Province of Quebec in 1774 ? There is proof, 
I think, that from the time of the cession of the country by 
France, the British Government comprehended the whole of it, 
up to the Mississippi, under the general name of Canada. The 
commission of General Murray in 1763, as governor, confined his 
government to the Province of Quebec, as restricted by the pro- 
clamation of that year : " Bounded on the Labrador coast by the 
River St. John, and from thence by a line drawn from the head 
of that river, through the Lake St. John to the east end of Lake 
Nepissin, from thence the said line crossing the River St. Law- 
rence and the Lake Champlain in 45 degrees of north latitude, 
passes along the Highlands which divide the rivers that empty 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 7-7 

themselves into the said St. Lawrence from those that fall into 
the sea ; and also along the north coast of the Baye des Chaleurs 
and the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Rosieres, and from thence 
crossing the month of the River St Lawrence by the west end of 
the island of Anticosti ; terminates at the aforesaid River St. 
John." But while General Murray's government was confined to 
those limits, and while his commission confined his authority to 
the Province of Quebec, the commission of Nicholas Turner, as 
Provost Marshal, extended his authority over the whole " Pro- 
vince of Canada." This was not necessarily a mere confusion of 
terms, or an arbitrary use of the terms " Province of Quebec" and 
" Province of Canada." The distinction was probably intended 
to be real, and it was based on very substantial grounds, as will r 
I think, hereafter be seen. 

How to deal with the new territorial acquisition in the interior, 
was a question to which much attention appears to have been paid. 
There was a question of establishing a separate civil government 
or governments in the interior. Col. Bradstreet, writing from 
Albany, Dec. 4, 1764, remarked that if this plan were decided 
against, " still some court of justice is rendered necessary, to the 
end that offenders, inhabitants, Indians, traders, and others might 
be brought to justice, and punished by a law that might prevent 
litigious suits and satisfy the savage that the strictest justice is 
done therein at all times." The Lords of Trade, July 10th, 1764, 
in a letter to Sir William Johnson, expressed the opinion that 
" the points at which it is advisable to fix the [Indian] trade in 
the northern district are Oswego, Niagara, Pittsburg, the Fort on 
the Miami river, Fort Chartres, in the Illinois country, Missilli- 
mackinac." " This," they added, u is an essential part of our 
plan." Col. Crogan took possession of the Illinois in 1765.* In 
1768 (March 7), the Lords of Trade recommended " the reduction 
of all such posts in the interior country as are not immediately 
subservient to the protection of the Indian commerce and to the 
defeating of the French and Spanish machinations among the In- 

* Sir William Johnston to the Lords of Trade, Sept. 28, 1765 



76 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

dians, or which, although in some degree useful for this purpose, 
cannot be maintained but at an expense disproportionate to their 
degree of utility." They thought it would be sufficient to keep 
up military establishments at Detroit, Missillimackin and Niagara, 
and that two or three armed vessels on Lakes Erie, Huron, Michi- 
gan and Superior would be sufficient. But they did not under- 
take to decide the military question of what further posts might 
be necessary to prevent dangerous intercourse " between the 
French and the Spaniards at New Orleans." Against the proposal to 
establish new civil governments in the interior, the Lords of Trade 
were very decided. The enquiry came up on a letter of the Earl of 
Shelbourne, asking how far the establishment of civil governments 
on the Mississippi, the Ohio and at Detroit would contribute to les- 
sen the military expenses or to procure other advantages. The 
proposition to form inland colonies they described as new. The 
object of colonizing was " to improve and extend the commerce, 
navigation and manufactories of this kingdom by promoting the 
fishery carried on upon the North-west, by securing a supply of 
lumber and other necessaries for the support of our establish- 
ments in the American islands. To secure these ends the policy 
has been to confine the settlements as much as possible to the sea 
coast, and not to extend them to places inaccessible to shipping 
and more out of the reach of commerce. It guarded against the 
interference of foreign powers, and enabled this kingdom to keep 
up a superior naval force in those seas by the actual possession of 
such rivers and harbours as were the proper stations of our fleets 
in time of war. They could not recommend the adoption of a new 
policy at an expense which the country was unable to bear ; and 
besides an inland settlement, inaccessible to shipping, " would pro- 
bably manufacture for itself." 

While the policy of discouraging interior settlements, by refus- 
ing to establish separate governments for their protection, had been 
acted on, and while the powers of the Government of the Province 
of Quebec could not be exercised west of Lake Nipissin,the neces- 
sity of having some means of administering justice in the inte- 
rior, which Col. Bradstreet had insisted on even before Illinois 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 77 

was got possession of, could not be ignored. Though it was not 
intended to permit any settlements, in the proper sense of the 
term, in the interior or Indian country, " all persons resorting 
there for trade were to be subject to a police deriving authority 
immediately from the Crown, and supported by a revenue arising 
from a tax upon the trade, to be imposed by Parliament."* Here 
we have reasons of necessity for extending the commission of the 
Provost Marshal, Nicholas Turner, to the whole " Province of 
Canada," which must have included all the country in which any 
Indian trade was carried on. And the Order in Council and Pro- 
clamation of 1791 cannot be taken to circumscribe the limits of 
Canada, or make them less than they were before ; for- both these 
instruments make the Canada of 1791 what it had come to be 
generally or commonly known to be : to embrace the " utmost 
extent of country commonly called or known as Canada." 

The scheme of a tax on trade to support a police authority in 
the interior country was abandoned, in consequence of the odium 
into which internal taxes, in the colonies, had fallen. 

When the Quebec Act was under discussion in the House of 
Commons, Lord North stated it as his opinion that the Bill did 
not extend "farther than the ancient limits of Canada." It added 
two countries not included in the proclamation of 1763 : " one on 
the Labrador coast, the other country westward of the Ohio and 
[to ?] the Mississippi, and a few scattered forts in the west. ' ' At- 
torney-General Thurlow distinctly described the country to which 
the Quebec Act would extend as " bounded by the Ohio and the 
Mississippi ;" and the commission of Guy Carleton, issued imme- 
diately thereafter, which, as Attorney-General, it would be his 
duty to inspect and examine, so extended the Province of Quebec. 
At this time a new policy had been adopted. It being found un- 
advisable to carry out the idea of an internal tax for the support 
of a police administration, and the project to establish separate 
civil governments in the interior having been rejected, nothing re- 
mained but to extend to the whole country the provision of the 

* The Justice and Policy of the late Act of Parliament for making more effectual 
provision for the government of Quebec asserted and proved. 



78 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

14 George III. By the term "ancient limits of Canada," Lord 
North must have intended the limits of the country as it was ob- 
tained from the French; for the "ancient limits," in a stricter 
sense, did not extend half so far. The " few scattered forts in the 
west," of which he made mention after he had spoken of the 
country as far west as the Mississippi, would, if the expression were 
taken alone, seem to mean to the north-west of the Mississippi ; 
but T have found no additional facts to support that view of the 
matter. 

By this time " Province of Quebec" and " Province of Canada," 
so distinct before, had apparently become convertible terms. The 
Province of Quebec, in 1774, extended to the Mississippi ; the Pro- 
vince of Canada, in 1791, was not restricted within narrower 
limits. 

The commission of Nicholas Turner was dated September 23, 
1763, a fortnight earlier than the proclamation under which the 
country was governed for eleven years was issued, and some time 
before the date of the commission of General Murray as Captain- 
General and Govern or-in- Chief of the Province. Mr. Turner was 
authorized to perform his duties by deputy, and in fact never 
went to Canada.* Still the early appointment of such an officer 
shows how strongly the Imperial Government felt the necessity 
of establishing a police authority in those parts of Canada which 
the proclamation did not include in the Province of Quebec. When 
the scheme of policy at first conceived of subjecting traders in the 
interior country to a special police authority failed, the necessity 
of enlarging the bounds of the Province of Quebec became impera- 
tive. A petition of the inhabitants of Canada, presented to Par- 
liament two months before the Quebec Act was introduced, prayed 
for "the reannexing to the Province all the coast of Labrador," 
and also " those several tracts of country in the interior and higher 



* Georgia had had a Provost Marshal for the whole Province, whose duties were in 
the nature of those of a Sheriff of an English county. The principal resided in Eng- 
land and rented out the office to a deputy, who was styled Acting-Provost Marshal. 
This practice was put an end to by 22 Geo. III., c. 75, which required residence in the 
colonies of all persons appointed to offices therein. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 79 

parts of North America, which formerly made a part of Canada, 
in the time of its subjection to the French Crown, but which now, 
by the limits assigned to the Province aforesaid, are out of its 
jurisdiction." The passing of the Quebec Act was a substantial 
granting of this petition. After that event, Governor Carleton, in 
proclaiming martial law, June 9, 1755, gives himself the title of 
" Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the Province 
of Quebec, and the territories depending thereon in America, 
Vice-Admiral of the same, and Major-General of His Majesty's 
forces, commanding the northern district." Before this date, 
Hon. Thos. Gage, Hon. Jas. Murray, Ralph Burton, and Frederick 
Haldimand, Esqs., had been His Majesty's Governors in the Pro- 
vince of Quebec, only. 

A ministerial defence of the Quebec Act, which appeared at the 
time, and which had a remarkable similarity to Lord North's then 
unreported speeches, delivered when the bill was under discus- 
sion, insists strongly on the necessity there was of including 
Illinois in the Act, though much of it would be excluded by a 
line drawn due north from the junction of the Ohio with the 
Mississippi. It is in the shape of a pamphlet, entitled, Thoughts 
on the Act for making more effectual provision for the general 
government of Quebec. The writer says : " The limits to which 
this Act is allowed to extend has been a subject of much alterca- 
tion; the principal objections being that it takes in lands that 
do not belong to Canada, and that it will prejudice our Labrador 
fishery. The first objection is known to be of little consequence 
to those who are acquainted with the Act. The extensive 
territory that it takes in is chiefly deserts, with a few scattered 
Indian settlements, inhabited by traders and a few others. Now, 
the necessity of giving these people a government is universally 
agreed, and by annexing them under the jurisdiction of the 
Province of Quebec, the difficulties that would attend giving 
them a separate government are obviated ; to grant them one 
different to [separate from] that of Canada, would be the very 
means of increasing the settlements in the Illinois, which in time 
would greatly affect the independence of the other colonies. 



80 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

The encouraging or even admitting settlements in the interior of 
America is so contrary to those solid maxims of policy that pene- 
trate the consequences of things, that it demands the greatest 
attention to prevent them, as nothing would be more fatal to the 
authority of this kingdom over America than their population." 
The lands so included came, as has been seen, to be considered 
part of Canada. They were annexed under trfc description of the 
Province of Quebec, and as such distinctly included, up to the 
Mississippi, in the commission of Guy Carleton of 1774. 

It was contended, on the part of the Crown, at the trial of Rein- 
hard, that the limits of Canada under the Act and the proclamation 
of 1791 were the same as those under the Quebec Act. The Attor- 
ney-General said : " The Act [of 1791] being to divide the Province 
of Quebec, I contend that the limits of the two provinces must be 
found in those which constituted the province out of which they 
were formed, and that whilst, on the one hand, they must together 
be commensurate with those limits, so, on the other, they cannot 
exceed them." If the explanatory words in the commission of Guy 
Carleton, showing that the " northward" line was to be drawn from 
the point of the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi, along 
the left bank of the latter river to its source, had been known to 
the Attorney -General, he would not have ventured upon an argu- 
ment that would have disproved the proposition he wished to 
establish. We know that the Province of Quebec did extend, 
under the Quebec Act, to the left bank of the Mississippi, from 
its source to where it receives the waters of the Ohio ; and when 
the identity of these limits with those under the Act, Order in 
Council and Proclamation of 1791, is shown, the western limits of 
Canada is proved to extend to the Mississippi at the latter date. 

But, it is said, the north-west boundary of Ontario has been 
judicially determined to be a line drawn due north from the 
junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi; and that this "solemn 
decision " must be held to be binding till it is set aside by com- 
petent authority. The decision in question was purely incidental 
to the main issue — which was the guilt or innocence of a person 
charged with murder — and the question was only very partially 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 81 

and imperfectly brought before the [court. Counsel charged with 
the defence of the prisoner could not be expected to get up, as an 
incident of the case, the whole question of the boundaries of the 
then Province of Upper Canada. Under the circumstances, the 
question could not be fully and fairly brought before the court. 

The case arose out of the following circumstances. In May, 
1818, Charles de Reinhard was put on trial, at Quebec, for the 
murder of Owen Keveny, in the Indian territories. The defence 
brought in question the jurisdiction of the court ; contending that 
the place where the murder was committed was in Upper Can- 
ada, and not in the Indian territories, and that a Lower Canada 
court had no jurisdiction. Chief Justice Sewell, in delivering the 
judgment of the court on the point of jurisdiction, said : "La 
limite ouest du Haut Canada est une ligne tirde vrai nord de la 
jonction des Rivieres Ohio et Mississippi, dans la latitude de 37° 
10' nord, et la longitude de 88° 50' ouest." (The western limit of 
Upper Canada is a line drawn due north from the junction of the 
Rivers Ohio and Mississippi, in north latitude 37° 10', and 88° 50' 
west longitude.) Whether this decision be agreeable to the evi- 
dence before the court, it by no means follows that it would have 
been given if the whole case had been fully presented. The 
counsel for the defence had no knowledge of the commission of 
Guy Carleton of 1774, or the subsequent commission of Lord 
Dorchester ; they knew scarcely anything of the early French 
discoveries and establishments in the north-west ; they knew no- 
thing of the Vaudreuil map, or of the French Government having 
used another map, at the time of the cession of the country in 
1763, which represented the whole north-west country as a part 
of Canada ; they had no knowledge of the fact of the Governor of 
Canada, in 1750, sending to the Marine Department a map to 
illustrate discoveries " in the west of Canada," which included the 
valley of the Saskatchewan. These able counsel — Mr. Stewart, 
afterwards Chief Justice, Mr. Vanfelson, and M. Valiere de St. Real 
— rested their case on the proclamation of 1791 ; the commission 
of the Due de Ventadour and that of Champlain ; extracts from 

Raynal, Pinkerton and Bouchette. the first of whom carried 
6 






82 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Louisiana, on the north, through unknown countries, to Hudson'.s 
Bay ; from the second they derived the information that "during 
a century and a half that the French possessed Canada, they made 
discoveries towards the west, and Lahontan, in the end of the 
seventeenth century, has given a tolerable account of some lake* 
beyond that called Superior, and of the River Missouri," and that 
Canada extended "to Lake Winnipeg in the west ;" and from the 
third, that no limits had been assigned to Canada on the west. 

Such were the limited grounds and imperfect and unreliable 
and contradictory information on which the defence rested the 
objection to the jurisdiction of the court. There was besides the 
question of the construction of the Quebec Act, and the Constitu- 
tion Act and Proclamation of 1791. Chief Justice Sewell, speak- 
ing for the whole court, decided, in effect, that the limits assigned 
to the Province by the Proclamation of 1791 were identical with 
those prescribed by the Act of 1774. If, with the additional light 
which the commission of Guy Carleton, 1774, throws on the sub- 
ject, we admit this conclusion and exclude other evidence, it would 
by no means follow that the western limit of Canada is a line 
drawn due north from the junction of the Ohio with the Missis- 
sippi : it would still remain true that the east bank of the Missis- 
sippi to its source was the boundary ; and there is every reason to 
believe that the court, if the whole question had been placed be- 
fore it, must have so decided. 

Evidence was heard on a point connected with the construction 
of the Statute : experts were asked to say what was the technical 
meaning of the word " northward." For this purpose, some sur- 
veyors were examined. Of these the first was Mr. Sax. He placed 
the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi in latitude 37° 10' 
north, and longitude 88° 50' west of Greenwich ; and said that a 
line drawn due north from that point would strike the north shore 
of Lake Superior about three-quarters of a degree east of Fort 
"William. But he made a distinction between a "northward" and 
a due north line. "A line," he said, "-supposing it to run due 
north from the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, would 
leave the river Winnipeg five degrees out of the Province of Upper 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 83 

Canada, not a northward line, hut a due north line/' Then he 
was asked hy the Attorney-General, whether he meant " to say 
that a northward line is not a due north line ?" This was the 
whole question involved in the construction of the term " north- 
ward." Mr. Sax replied : " It is not always [a due north line] ; it 
may be north by west or north-north-west, or many other points 
of the compass," while " a due north line is one that goes direct to 
the North Pole without any deviation whatever." He was next 
asked whether, if he had a northward line to run, he would not 
run it due north ?" " Perhaps I might and perhaps not : I would 
certainly run it northerly, though I might not run it due north," 
was the reply. The Attorney-General put the question in differ- 
ent forms, but was unsuccessful in inducing Mr. Sax to say that 
a northward line was a due north line. Chief Justice Sewell 
came to the aid of the Attorney-General, and entered on a course 
of earnest, not to say angry, browbeating cross-examination, little 
consistent with the preservation of the judicial temper.* Mr. Sax 
admitted that if he had a northward line to draw, without other 
instructions, he should " draw it due north either astronomically 
or magnetically : magnetically if there were variation, and astro- 
nomically if there were none ;" though he could not be brought 
to admit that a northward line was necessarily a due north line. 
Unless the word "northward" in the Quebec Act had been ex- 
plained by Guy Carleton's commission, Vaudreuil's map, or in 
some other way, it would have been unqualified; and without 
such qualification Mr. Sax was plainly in the right when he said 
that, if instructed simply to run a northward line, he would have 
to run it due north. Mr. Bouchette, Assistant-Surveyor-General, 
who was also examined, held to the due north line. Mr. Bouchette 
was but nineteen years of age ; and in giving a due north line 
from the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi, he was only 
repeating the error of his father's map, to which the line had been 
transferred from that of Edward Bowen. So do geographers care- 



* " The judge should remain, during the trial, mere judge, and never become ex- 
aminer or part of the prosecution." — Lieber : On Civil Liberty and Self-Government. 



84 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

lessly reproduce one another's errors. " In other maps," he admit- 
ted, " the western limit of Upper Canada is drawn as running 
from the mouth of the Mississippi until it strikes its source in 
Turtle Lake ;" where, I apprehend, any geographer who had 
seen Guy Carle ton's commission would have drawn it. But 
geographers are often profoundly ignorant of everything on which 
the boundary lines of Provinces depend. The value of Bowen's 
line of demarcation may be judged by the circumstance that it 
professes to be drawn by the Commissioners under the Treaty of 
Utrecht. It is evident that neither he nor Mr. Bouchette, senior, 
who copied the blunder, nor Mr. Bouchette, junior, the witness, 
was aware that the Commissioners under the Treaty of Utrecht 
never settled any line at all.* 

On the trial of Paul Brown and Francois Firman Boucher, for 
the murder of Mr. Semple, in the Indian territories, the questions 
of jurisdiction and boundaries were touched on. The trial took 
place at York, in October, 1818. The alleged murder was com- 
mitted at the site of the present town of Winnipeg. This case, 
with that of several others included, on the same or a similar 
charge, was sent up for trial from Lower Canada, under the great 
seal of that Province, as authorized by the 43rd George III., en- 
titled " An Act for extending the jurisdiction of the Courts of 
Justice in the Provinces of Lower and Upper Canada, to the trial 
and punishment of persons guilty of crimes and offences within 
certain parts of North America adjoining the said Provinces." The 
instruments under which these cases were sent to York for trial 
assumed that the alleged crime had been committed in the Indian 
territories. During the examination of Mr. Coltman, he said : " It 
is certainly matter of notoriety that the Red River country was 



* The errors that have prevailed on this subject would be unaccountable on any 
other supposition than that a confidence altogether undeserved is sometimes given to 
maps which purport to convey information on points on which their authors are igno- 
rant. Mr. Rush, American Minister to England, stated, in 1824, in presence of the 
British plenipotentiaries, with whom he was negotiating, that the bine of division be- 
tween Canada and the Hudson's Bay Territory had been settled along the 49° parallel ; 
and he did so apparently without contradiction, for he repeats the error in a publica- 
tion deliberately given to the world twenty-one years after. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 85 

formerly frequented by the French traders — that is, before the 
conquest by the English ; but I do not know whether Nouvelle 
France was considered as taking in this part of the Indian terri- 
tory." On which Chief Justice Powell remarked, " I am tolera- 
bly conversant with maps myself, but not sufficiently so to say 
whether this part of the country was or was not apart of Canada. 
I never understood, extensive as were the limits of what the French 
called Louisiana, that they spread so far north as this ; nor can I 
distinctly say that it formed a part of Canada. Relative to 
Nouvelle France, it was never, I believe, defined with sufficient 
accuracy to enable us to say what were its limits. If they have 
been, it is beyond my knowledge." There is a real modesty about 
this statement, that speaks well for the temper of mind in which 
it was conceived. The Chief Justice seems to have had a doubt 
about the jurisdiction of the Court, for he raises the point in his 
charge, though the jurisdiction had not been excepted to. " The 
first point," he said, " and one of importance, supposing it had been 
attempted at all to doubt it, is to establish that we have the 
jurisdiction given by the statute, and then we should have to con- 
sider whether the place at which the offence is charged to have 
been committed is without the limits of Upper Canada and of 
Lower Canada, as required by the Act of the 43rd. Upon these 
points we can judge only by inference, and by certain proof given 
in testimony during the trial, that this Red River country, or the 
Frog Plains, are somewhere about 49° 30' of north latitude, and 
from 90° to 100°, or thereabouts, of longitude. I premise by 
stating this to you, and also to mention, that there is no further 
evidence to satisfy you of your jurisdiction." And again, " Mr. 
Attorney-General has put in evidence the latitude and longitude 
of the Frog Plains, but he does not put in evidence whether this 
latitude and longitude are without the boundaries of Upper 
Canada, and I do not know whether 90° to 100° or 150° form the 
western limit of U pper Canada ; nor do I know whether a place 
at that longitude, and having 49° 30' north latitude, is within the 
Province of Upper Canada or beyond its boundaries." In vain 
the Attorney-General called upon the Chief Justice to instruct 



86 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

the jury whether the place at which the alleged crime had been 
committed, and of which the position had been established by 
evidence, " be or be not without the Provinces of Upper or Lower 
Canada, and part of the Indian territories." The Chief Justice 
would not undertake to decide so serious a question by a side- 
wind ; and he directed the jury, if they found Boucher guilty — 
there was no evidence against Brown — to do so by a special ver- 
dict, raising a doubt whether Upper Canada did not extend to the 
junction of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, to this effect: "We find 
Francois Firman Boucher guilty of the murder of Robert Semple. 
We cannot see from any evidence before us what are the limits of 
Upper Canada." " Then," added the Chief Justice, " when the 
case is made up for argument, it will be set forth that the spot 
was in about 40° 30' north latitude, and between 90° and 100° 
west longitude ; and a solemn decision being had upon it, justice 
will eventually be rendered according to that decision." Mr. 
Sherwood, counsel for the prisoners, submitted that the question 
of jurisdiction was one of fact, not of law, and that it was the 
province of the jury to decide it ; whereupon the Chief Justice 
said : " The jury may return a general or a special verdict, as they 
think proper." The verdict was " Not guilty ; " and as no subse- 
quent convictions took place, no case was made up, and the ques- 
tion of territorial jurisdiction remained undecided. 

The course suggested by Chief Justice Powell was the only one 
by which the question could be fairly determined. The incidental 
decision of the Lower Canada Court in favour of its own jurisdic- 
tion cannot be held to be of any value, in face of the new evidence 
which has been discovered in the course of this investigation. 

The disturbances which gave rise to the trials at York, in 1818, 
arose out of the collision between the North- West and the Hud- 
son's Bay Companies. Prior to the cession of Canada the Hudson's 
Bay Company had never extended its establishments west of Lake 
Winnipeg, and the chain of water which leads thence down to 
Lake Superior, including the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake ; 
and when, several years after the conquest, it pushed its operations 
west of this line, it found itself preceded by the North-West Com- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 87 

pan} 7 . A fierce rivalry sprang up between the two Companies, 
and a species of private war was carried on in which many lives 
were lost. In 1811, the Hudson's Bay Company assumed to grant 
to the Earl of Selkirk a tract of land under the following descrip- 
tion : " Beginning on the western shore of Lake Winipic, at a 
point in fifty-two degrees and thirty minutes north latitude ; thence 
running due west to the Lake Winipigashish, otherwise called 
Little Winnipec ; then in a southerly direction through the said 
lake, so as to strike its western shore in latitude fifty-two degrees ; 
then due west to the place where the parallel of fifty-two degrees 
north latitude intersects the western branch of Red River, other- 
wise called Assiniboin River ; then due south from that point of 
intersection to the height of land which separates the waters run- 
ning into Hudson's Bay from those of the Missouri and Missis- 
sippi Rivers ; thence in an easterly direction along the height of 
land to the source of the River Winipec (meaning by such last- 
mentioned river the principal branch of the waters which unite 
in the Lake Saginagas) ; thence along the main stream of those 
waters and the middle of the several lakes through which they 
pass, to the mouth of the Winnipec River; and thence in a north- 
erly direction through the middle of Lake Winnipec, to the place 
of beginning." This is a grant of lands- which the Company as- 
sumed to have derived from the Crown through its charter, though 
it never had possession of them during the French occupation of 
Canada, when they came under the dominion of the French Crown, 
and when, many years after the conquest, much over a century 
after its charter had been granted, it extended its operations there, 
it found the country in possession of other British subjects. It 
will be seen that the limits of this grant do not assume to extend 
south of the height of land on the Pigeon River chain of waters ; 
whence the presumption /ollows that the Company then claimed 
that division of the two watersheds as the southern limit of its 
territory. The facts just stated show the slender ground on which 
that claim rested. But even that line of division would give On- 
tario three millions nine hundred thousand acres more than she 
would obtain if cut off, on the west, by a line drawn due north 
from the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi. 



88 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

The decision of the Court of Lower Canada, on the western 
limit of Upper Canada, left wholly out of account the Treaty of 
1783, by which England had ceded to the United States a large 
part of Canada as it stood in 1774, when the 14th George III. 
was passed. A line drawn due north from the junction of the 
Ohio with the Mississippi would include nearly the whole of Mi- 
chigan and Illinois, and the eastern part of Wisconsin. The des- 
cription in the Act of 1774, however it may be construed, had 
ceased to be applicable in its full extent. The Treaty of 1783 
had rendered another description of the boundaries of Canada 
necessary : the line of division, instead of going along the Ohio to 
the Mississippi, was drawn through the middle of Lakes Erie and 
Huron. To bring the powers of the Government of Canada within 
those restricted limits, no new Act of Parliament was deemed ne- 
cessary. For three years, the Treaty itself seems to have been 
the only authority on the subject. It was not till 1786 that a 
new Commission, under the Great Seal, was issued to Lord Dor- 
chester (previously Sir Guy Carleton), with a new description of 
Canada according to that in the Treaty. This line, when it reached 
Lake Superior, went through that lake " northward of the Isles 
Royal and Philipeaux, to the Long Lake and the water communi- 
cation between it and the Lake of the Woods to the said Lake of 
the Woods ; thence through the said lake to the most north-west- 
ern point thereof; and from thence on a due west course to the 
River Mississippi, and northward to the southern boundary of the 
territory granted to the merchant adventurers of England trading 
to Hudson's Bay." This description takes us to the most north- 
western point of the Lake of the Woods, and thence due west to 
the Mississippi (which the reader need not be informed it would 
not strike), " and northward" — that is, northward of a line drawn 
due west from the most north-west point of the Lake of the Woods 
— " to the southern boundary of the territory granted to the mer- 
chant adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay." This 
commission does not enable us to say where the southern border 
of the Hudson's Bay Territory commences ; but it distinctly places 
it north of the most north-west point of the Lake of the Woods. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 89 

The most north-west point of the Lake of the Woods is the start- 
ing point, and when a due west line has been drawn thence, it is 
plainly stated that the southern frontier of the Hudson's Bay Ter- 
ritory is to be found by going " northward." 

We must consider this question with reference to the state of 
geographical knowledge at the time. It was not known then, 
nor till after the Constitution Act of 1791 had been passed, that a 
line drawn due west from the most northern point of the Lake 
of the Woods would not strike the Mississippi. The Treaty 
of 1783 and the Commission of Lord Dorchester, 1786, both made 
the north- west corner of the Lake of the Woods the starting point 
of the due west line ; and as the geographical error had not been 
exploded in 1791, the Parliament and Government of Great 
Britain must still have proceeded on that assumption : neither the 
one nor the other can be presumed to have intended anything be- 
yond the scope of the knowledge it then possessed. When the 
southern limit of Hudson's Bay Territory was mentioned, it could 
not have been intended to signify any line south of the north- 
west corner of the Lake of the Woods, and the Commission of 
Lord Dorchester distinctly places it north of that point. 

This description does not include a western boundary. It 
takes us west to the Mississippi, on two lines drawn from east 
to west, one of them due west ; but between these two lines it 
describes no closing line on the west. 

The significance of this omission will appear in its full force 
when taken in connection with the Order in Council and Procla- 
mation of 1791, and the extent to which France carried the bounds 
of Canada on the west. The Proclamation includes all the territory 
westward and southward of the southern boundary of the the Hud- 
son's Bay Territory " to the utmost extent of country commonly 
called or known as Canada ;" and the French Governor of Canada, in 
1750, included a large part of the Valley of the Saskatchewan " in 
the west of Canada;" and the French Government, as we have seen, 
is said to have surrendered the whole of that country to England 
at the cession of Canada, as proved by the map made use of. 

If the Commission of Lord Dorchester made a new description 



90 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

of the boundaries of Canada, there were two reasons for the 
change : the description contained in the Quebec Act had ceased 
to be true on the conclusion of the Treaty of 1783 ; and when 
the United States had obtained a cession of the western part of 
Canada, now Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, it is easy to con- 
ceive reasons of state for extending the authority of the Govern- 
ment of Canada in the rear of the territory so ceded. The Hud- 
son's Bay Company had, in 1786, not extended its operations there ; 
and the southern border of its territory, wherever it was to be 
found, is always treated as a fixed and determinate limit. It is 
so treated in the Quebec Act, in the Commission of Lord Dor- 
chester, twelve years later, in the Proclamation of 1791. The 
Company could not extend its territory southward of a limit 
so fixed ; and as, according to the description in the Commission 
of 1786, there was a strip of territory between the United States' 
northern frontier and the southern boundary of the Hudson's Bay 
Territory, it was necessary to extend the authority of the Govern- 
ment of Canada over it. Taken in .connexion with this Commis- 
sion, the Proclamation of 1791 may be regarded as having carried 
the bounds of Canada to the furthest limit to which the French 
previously extended them. 

The Commission of 1786 was evidently intended to supersede 
that of 1774, so that we cannot fall back on the description of a 
western boundary contained in the latter. 

There is nothing in the description of the Indian Territories, 
the exclusive privilege of trading in which was granted to the 
Company in December, 1821, for twenty-one years, and for a 
second period of twenty-one years in May, 1838, to interfere with 
the limit given to Canada by Lord Dorchester's Commission. 
The Indian Territories are described in these terms : " All such 
parts of North America to the northward and to the westward of 
the said lands and territories belonging to the United States of 
America, as shall not form part of any of his said Majesty's pro- 
vinces in North America, or to any lands or territories belonging 
to the said United States of America, Or to any European govern- 
ment, state or power." Canada, being one of His Majesty's pro- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 91 

vinces in North America, could not be encroached on by this 
license of trade, and its limits remained as they were before. The 
description in the Commission of Lord Dorchester is the latest 
specific description of the bounds of Canada ; and is of great assis- 
tance in enabling us to understand the general description in the 
Proclamation of 1791, because it extends the southern boundary 
of Hudson's Bay Territory north of the most north-west point of 
the Lake of the Woods, while it leaves open the question of limits 
on the west. 

Very little assistance can be obtained in determining the boun- 
daries of Ontario from maps which purport to give the boundaries 
of Canada at the Treaty of Utrecht or the conquest of Canada. 
A map drawn by Mr. Thomas Devine, and published by order of M. 
Cauchon, Commissioner of Crown Lands, in 1857, had transferred 
to it two lines which purport to give the boundary between 
Canada and Hudson's Bay (the term Hudson's Bay Territory is 
of comparatively modern origin). One is marked " Boundary of 
Hudson's Bay after the Treaty of Utrecht, according to maps pub- 
lished at Paris, 1720, 1739, and 1771." This line sweeps round 
James' Bay at no great distance from its head, above the 5*0° of 
latitude, crossing the rivers that run into the Bay much nearer 
their mouths than their source. After passing Moose Biver in 
its westward course, it deflects north-westward with a general 
conformity to the indentations of the coast till it reaches Nelson 
River, whence it is drawn nearly due north towards the mouth of 
the Churchill River. Everywhere it crosses the rivers a consider- 
able distance from their sources, and encloses only a narrow belt 
along the shores of the Bay. My reason for thinking that it is 
not the true, or not the entire, line of boundary is, that it does 
not include the shore of the Bay above the Churchill River. The 
great object of England, throughout the whole negotiation of the 
Peace of Utrecht, was to obtain the whole Bay and Straits of 
Hudson. But this line would probably include quite as much as 
France was in a position to restore to England ; for she could 
restore only what she had actually possessed. This line may ex- 
press the French understanding of what France was bound to 



92 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

restore to England. It may even be identical with the line 
marked on the map by the French plenipotentiaries; but it is evi- 
dent that, England might reasonably object that it did not go far 
enough north ; and that, by the Treaty, she was entitled to the 
shores of the Bay above as well as below. The other line is 
marked " Northern boundary of Canada at the conquest of 
Canada, according to British geographers." It commences below 
James' Bay, nearly as far south as the 48th degree ; leaving the 
sources of the three branches of the Moose River to the south on its 
westward course, and, passing north of Lake Nipigon, it cuts off a 
river of the southern watershed which is represented as running into 
that lake from the north : it crosses what appears to be the height 
of land between Lake Savon and Lake St. Joseph, on the north- 
east, and Lake Sel (marked Lake Sal) on the south-west ; from 
this point, its general course is north-westward, taking mainly the 
same direction as the other line, at about twice its distance from 
the coast, from which it runs about twice as far, on the west, as 
its course is east of Lake Winnipeg ; and is carried northward a 
little above Seal River. It would be idle to speculate on the 
subject ; but it would not be surprising if these two lines were 
found to occupy nearly the same position as those marked by the 
plenipotentiaries at Utrecht. I have seen nothing to lead to the 
conclusion that the English had extended west or south of this 
line before the cession of Canada. 

We know that the French and English plenipotentiaries at 
Utrecht did not agree on a common line as drawn upon a map : 
but the difference between the two lines was left for adjustment 
afterwards. The mean or true line of the Treaty of Utrecht was 
never authoritatively laid down on any map. Between that line, 
suppose it were found, and the boundary line of Hudson's Bay 
at the cession of Canada, there would be no difference ; for the 
boundary was the same at the two epochs. It is a manifest in- 
accuracy to lay down two separate lines to represent the boun- 
daries of the two periods. But the two lines reproduced by Mr. 
Devine are confessedly one French and the other English. 

I do not refer to this map to show the opinion of the Govern- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 98 

ment of the late Province of Canada, or of its successor, if it has 
one. The map was prepared for the information of the Govern- 
ment, and no more binds the Government than any statement or 
opinion in this report could be held to bind the Government 
of Ontario. But the map may be referred to as illustrating the 
historical geography of Hudson's Bay. 

The author of I'ltineraire des Francais dans la Louisiane 
makes the unknown lands of Canada extend to Hudson's Bay, at 
the time of the grant of Louisiana to Crozat, in 1712.* The 
country towards Hudson's Bay was not unknown to the French in 
the same way that the country granted by Charles II. to the 
Hudson's Bay Company was unknown to the English in 1670. 
On the contrary, the French were well acquainted with the coun- 
try on the west and south coast of Hudson's Bay, where long before 
they had erected establishments and carried on trade. Part of the 
intermediate country, north of the great lakes, was little or not at 
all known by them. The author of I'ltineraire had borrowed 
the above description from Raynal, whose work was composed 
after the French dominion in Canada had ceased, and when there 
could be no national object in extending the limits of Canada be- 
yond what the author believed to be its true bounds. His des- 
cription, however, was not strictly accurate, as he would have 
learnt if he had paid due attention to the Treaty of Utrecht. It 
is surprising to note the complacent facility with which errors of 
this kind are repeated by writers who transcribe and compile 
without reflection and critical investigation. I notice this error 
the more readily, because it was relied on by the able counsel by 
whom Reinhard was defended, as a true description of the bounds 
of Canada on the north. 

De Lisle's Carte de la Louisiane, as published in 1718, does not 
extend that Province north of the 46° of north latitude ; and it 
only shows the part of Canada which reached upwards to that 

* La Louisiane est une vaste contree de l'Amenque Septentrionale, borne'e au midi 
par la mer, au levant par la Caroline, au couchant par le Nouveau Mexique, au nord 
par cette portion du Canada dont les terres inconnues doivent s'Stendre jusqu'a la Baie 
d' Hudson. 



94 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

parallel. His Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France, of the 
date 1703, may be taken as a fair representation of the geographi- 
cal knowledge of the country possessed by the French at that date. 
It is very inaccurate in many particulars, where it undertakes to 
delineate the interior country west of Hudson's Bay. On the 
shores of the Bay, as far north as Nelson River, it is tolerably 
accurate. There we find Fort Bourbon, Fort de Neuve-Savane, 
Fort Ste. Anne or Quichichoue on the west ; and Fort St. Louis 
on Albany River, and Fort Rupert on the river of that name. 
But the delineations at any considerable distance west of the 
Bay are evidently based on inaccurate information. There is 
a large lake on the south side of the Ste. The'rese River — the same 
of which Jeremie wrote — which we look for in vain on modern 
maps, and it is not mentioned by Franklin, who went up this river 
in his overland journey, in 1819. Lake Nipegon is passably well 
figured by the French geographer; but there is a still larger 
l a ^ e — marked Lac de Christineaux — represented as connecting 
with it directly north, which has no existence. It was pro- 
bably intended for Rainy Lake, as it connects, by means of a river 
running west, with the Lac des Assenipouils, which latter also 
connects, correctly enough, with the Nelson River, and which is 
intended to represent Lake Winnipeg. The position of these lakes 
must have been laid down from inaccurate information derived by 
traders from the Indians. West of Lake Winnipeg the whole 
country is nearly a blank ; and what is not blank is not accurate. 
The only information which the map purports to give north of 
Nelson River, on the west coast, is a small portion of the Churchill, 
marked R. de Munch ou R. Danoise, ou R. Churchill, situated a 
little above Pointe Hebrin, with Cape Grimington, many hundreds 
of miles out of the position where geographers have long concurred 
in placing it.* Near the north-west corner of the Bay are the 
words, Port de Jean Munch, ou il hyverna Van 1619 ; a date which, 
if correct, negatives the claim of the Danes to be the discoverers of 



* The French geographer places this cape on the west side of Hudson's Bay, in- 
stead of the Labrador coast. Capt. G-rimington,*who commanded an English Expedi- 
tion to Hudson's Bay, in 1793, no doubt gave his name to the cape. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 95 

the Bay. The line drawn to denote the Hauteurs des Terres 
between the southern and northern watersheds, shows, for the time, 
surprising geographical knowledge of the country as far west as 
Lake Nipegon ; from that point the line is inaccurately drawn to 
the southern end of Lake Winnipeg. Its latitude of the northern- 
most point of Lake Superior is only about seventeen minutes out 
of the true position. 

De Lisle was a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and 
first geographer to the King. What he did not know of the country, 
it is probable no Frenchman or Canadian colonist knew. From 
the account of Jeremie, who had the best means perhaps of any 
Frenchman of obtaining a knowledge of the geography of the 
country west of Hudson's Bay, up to 1713, it does not appear that 
the French had much increased their knowledge of the geography 
of that region, at the time France restored to England whatever 
that Crown possessed on the shores of the Bay, by the Treaty of 
Utrecht. 

English geographers were not nearly so well acquainted with 
this northern country. Herman Moll, in 1708, places the north 
side of Lake Superior in 51° 30', an error of two degrees. He 
places Lake Nipegon, as far north as the mouth of Nelson River, 
within about a degree ; an error, if Arrowsmith's map be reliable, 
of six degrees.* Nelson River has nearly the shape of a V, and it 
only extends about half as far west as Lake Nipegon, just north of 
which it would pass if produced due west. Though we cannot 
accuse Moll of plagiarizing De Lisle, he repeats the error of the 
French geographer in connecting Lake Nipegon on the north with 
a lake which he calls Assenipovals, by means of a river. West 
of this lake there is another, intersected in the centre by the 60° 
of latitude ; all the rest is a blank, north of the source of the Mis- 



* Though Arrowsmith may here be relied on for the purpose of this correction, 
even that celebrated name is not always a guarantee of accuracy. " It may appear 
astonishing,'' says Humboldt, "that the most recent map which we are analysing, and 
which bears the name of a justly celebrated author, should be the falsest of all. I speak 
of the large English map which has for title, Chart of the West Indies and Spanish 
Dominions in North America, by Arrowsmith, published in June 1803. 



96 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

sissippi, and west of Lake Nipegon, marked " parts unknown." 
The special importance of this map — for it has no official character 
— lies in the fact that in 1708 English geographers did not know 
that the Nelson River connected with Lake Winnepeg on the 
west. Port Nelson was then in the hands of the French, and it 
remained in their possession till after the Treaty of Utrecht; 
Jeremie being in command, under a commission from the King of 
France, in the interim. What the English did not know of the 
geography of this river in 1708, they had no opportunity of 
learning during the next five years. They could have had restored 
to them only what they had previously possessed ; and they could 
not be said to have possessed a country of which they had no 
knowledge, on which no British subjects had ever set foot. This 
map was published in Oldmixon's British Empire in America, in 
which the account of Hudson's Bay appears to have been chiefly 
prepared from materials in .the exclusive possession of the Com- 
pany. 

From the map attached to Wayne's General History of the 
British Umpire in America, published in 1770, English geogra- 
phers do not appear to have much advanced in their knowledge 
of the country. Albany River is here represented as having a 
general course from west to east, and as uniting Christineaux Lake, 
which occupies the same relative position as on Moll's map, with 
James' Bay. This author distinctly admits the ignorance which 
prevailed in England of the geography of Canada. " The extent 
of the boundaries of Canada," he says, " are variously fixed by the 
French geographers, and perhaps still remain undiscovered, as well 
as the source of the St. Lawrence river, which runs through the 
country, and is pretended to be derived from remote north-western 
lakes as yet unknown to Europeans." They had long been known 
to the French. 

Thomas Kitchen, "Hydrographer to His Majesty," contributes a 
map to Justamond's translation of Raynal's East and West In- 
dies, 1774, in which Lake Superior is made to extend north to 48° 
40' latitude, an error of about ten degrees ! In another map in a 
later edition of this translation, 1783, Mr. Thomas Kitchen, senior, 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 97 

still " Hydrographer to His Majesty," has elaborated his work 
without amending his geography of Lake Superior ; and he faith- 
fully gives the old boundaries of the Province of Quebec, eleven 
years after they had been obliterated by the Quebec Act : an ana- 
chronism that might be thought unpardonable in any geographer, 
though he were not Hydrographer to the King. 

The map in Ellis's Voyage to Hudson's Bay, published in Lon- 
don in 1748, placed the north shore of Lake Superior in 47° north 
latitude, eight and a half degrees north of its true position. 

The map in Carver's Travels through the Interior Parts of 
North America, 1779, connects York River, as the Nelson River 
is called, with Bourbon Lake, which again is connected with and 
placed immediately north of Lake Ouinipique. The two lakes 
were probably ^intended to represent the southern and northern 
parts of Lake "Winnipeg. This map contains a line of " Proposed 
Limits of Hudson's Bay," drawn from Cape Grimington (which is 
not so marked) on the Labrador coast to Lake Mistassin, and 
passing south of the south-eastern point of James' Bay, ends 
at or just above the most north-western point of the Lake 
of the Woods. By whom was this line of division "pro- 
posed ? " We know that, as far west as Lake Mistassin, it is coin- 
cident with the line once proposed by the Hudson's Bay Company. 
By whom, if not by the Company, could the proposal have been 
made ? There were, at this time, only the British Government 
and the Company by whom such a proposal could be made. The 
Government of Canada was a Governor and Council, whose policy 
was directed in England. If such a line had been proposed by 
either, it should be possible to obtain official information of the 
fact, but there is no reason to suppose it would be accessible in 
this country. 

George Alexander Cooke's Modem and Authentic System of 
Universal Geography, an English work, published in the begin- 
ning of this century, describes Canada as being " situated between 
45 and 52 degrees of north latitude, and 61 9 and 81° of west lon- 
gitude." This is a singular mixture of truth and error. The line 

of 45°, on the south, is correct ; that of 52 Q would give Canada a 

7 



98 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

part of James' Bay. There have been times when the Hudson's 
Bay Company offered to take less. There is no difficulty in under- 
standing where the notion that 81° west longitude was the west- 
ern boundary of Canada was derived : it was the belief that the 
proclamation of 1763 so placed it, and this geographer copied the 
old description thirty years after a new boundary had been esta- 
blished ; a very common source of error, which shows the neces- 
sity of submitting all descriptions of this kind to a critical test 
before accepting them as correct. But, such is the carelessness 
which often marks the works of geographers, his own map places 
Lake Nipissing about a degree and a half east of where his 
description places it. 

A map of the British Dominions in North America, in a work 
published in Dublin, in 1774, under the title of A Complete His- 
tory of the Late War, contains a line which purports to give the 
" Bounds of Hudson's Bay by the Treaty of Utrecht." On this 
map the meridian lines are a degree and a quarter east of 
the true position ; the north-westernmost corner of the Lake of 
the Woods being placed in 96° 30', instead of 95° 14' 38", as 
determined by the British and American commissioners under the 
Treaty of Ghent. It was necessary to state this fact, because we 
shall have to refer to these meridians as they are intersected by 
the alleged line of boundary. This line curves round on the south 
side of Lake Mistassin, immediately east of which it winds sud- 
denly north to about 50° 48' north latitude ; then it returns 
southward and crosses the 50°, which is correctly laid down with 
reference to James' Bay, and continues south-west till it touches 
47° 22' at the point where the 78° meridian, on this map, is 
intersected ; thence it continues due west about two degrees ; 
from which point the 80th meridian (81° 30' true longitude) ; 
whence it takes a general course north-west till it reaches up to 
50° 47', in about 92° 30' (true longitude 94°* ;) whence it passes 
in a south-west direction the Lake of the Woods at the distance 



* This is on the supposition that the assumed longitude of one place may be cor- 
rected by reference to the established longitude of another. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 99 

of about half a degree north of that lake. This line seems sub- 
stantially to follow the dividing line of the two watersheds, 
though it crosses a river that runs into James' Bay more than a 
degree from its source ; in compensation for which it crosses an 
imaginary i-iver which forms a connecting link between Lake 
Nipigon and Lake Christineaux. The author of this map probably 
considered the height of land between the two watersheds to be 
the true dividing line of the Treaty of Utrecht ; and fancied that 
that line of division passed north of the Lake of the Woods. 

A line bearing a general resemblance to the above continued to 
appear on English maps till the end of the last century. A map 
" intended to illustrate the Travels of the Duke de la Rochefou- 
cault Lioncourt, in America," in Neuman's translation of that 
work, published in London in the last year of the century, while 
having many of the general features of the above, is not identical 
with it. One noticeable deviation is, that it passes north instead 
of south of Lake Mistassin ; it descends, at the meridian of 80°, 
to 48° 20' latitude, its lowest point ; whence it takes a north- 
west direction till it approaches the meridian of 95° in 50° 30' 
latitude. It is a dotted line, like that of the southern boundary, 
but is not explained by any description. 

A map in the History of the American War, published in 
Dublin, 1779, has a line to describe the " bounds of the Hudson's 
Bay Company by the Treaty of Utrecht." This line rises north 
of lat. 50°, near the meridian of 68°, and terminates on the west 
at 50° lat., north of the Lake of the Woods. 

Emanuel Bo wen was relied on as a geographical authority, in the 
trial of Reinhard. A very slight examination of his map, in 
Burkes European Settlements in America, will show that to 
rely on him as an authority would be blind and wilful self-decep- 
tion. It does not connect Nelson River with any lake in the 
west, but gives, instead, an insignificant expansion near its 
western extremity, ' at about 102° west longitude, as here laid 
down, to represent its source. Lake Winnipeg has no representa- 
tive. The Hayes River, which, in fact, connects with Lake 
Winnipeg, is made to stop short four or five degrees of the point 



100 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

to which the Nelson is made to extend. Assemipoli Lake [is 
placed just above Lake Superior, and about six degrees south of 
Nelson River, Albany River running north-east of it. If Burke's 
censure of English geographers for copying servilely from the 
French did not fall on Bowen, the absence of plagiarism was 
replaced by a want of knowledge which must prevent Bowen 
^rom being regarded as an authority, except by those who are 
unable to detect or correct his blunders. Bouchette copied from 
one of his maps, published in 1775,* a line which pretended to 
denote the western boundary of Canada. Considering the low 
state of geographical knowledge, in England, regarding the 
northern part of North America, in the middle of the last cen- 
tury, there was some excuse for regarding Bowen as an authority 
then, but there was none for continuing so to regard him in 
1818 ; and any one who should now quote his maps would give 
the strongest proof of his own entire unacquaintance with the 
subject. 

Humboldt pointed out numerous errors of the geographers of 
New Spain, but none of them approached in grossness to many 
of the above. And to tell the truth, some pretentious French 
geographers were scarcely better informed. It may excite sur- 
prise that, after De Lisle had correctly placed the position of the 
north shore of Lake Superior, in 1703, any engineer of the 
French King, and hydrographer of the marine, should have been 
found, forty years later, to place it ten and a half degrees too 
far north. Yet if we consult the map in either edition of 
the Nouvelle France of Charleroix, we are confronted with this 
fact. But it is possible to possess considerable loose general geo- 
graphical knowledge without having a knowledge of the position 
of places which may never have been determined. The author 
of this map takes us by a distinct line from Lake Superior to 
Lake Winnipeg ; and with the latter lake he connects Fleuve de 
TOuest; at the west end of which he places the explanation : 
Ici suivant le rapport des sauvages commence le flux et reflux.. 
The Indians, if they intended to speak of the Columbia as a 

* The map we are here examining was published eighteen years earlier. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO 101 

tidal river, explained ill what they knew little or nothing about, 
and were perhaps partly misunderstood ; the result of which was 
a very confused and hardly recognizable glimmering of truth, to 
be revealed by future adventurers. The Lake of the Wood's is 
erroneously made to connect with Hudson's Bay, by Nelson River, 
which, under other names, is made to pass through two great lakes, 
to the north-east, on the way. But the geographer does not vouch 
for the existence of these lakes ; on the contrary, he awakens the 
reader's scepticism by assuring him that V existence de ces deux 
grands lacs est tres incertaine. They have, in fact, no existence. 
Scepticism was a merit where implicit belief would have been 
error. This King's engineer and hydrographer of the marine had 
not kept himself acquainted with the official documents from 
Canada which, from time to time, reported the progress of dis- 
covery in the north-west. 

English writers on the geography of the northern part of North 
America have been greatly influenced by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany. Their very desire to get at the truth would cause them to 
apply for information to those who were supposed in some mea- 
sure to possess exclusive means of information, but who had a 
strong interest in giving currency to extravagant pretensions of 
their own. Mr. Montgomery Martin, writing in 1849, makes the 
Company a present of everything on the north as far as the 
Arctic Ocean : a pretence which it has itself never ventured to 
set up. This influence of the Company on geographical literature 
has much increased during the last century. Up to the date of the 
conquest of Canada there were English geographers who allowed 
New France to extend at some points too near the Arctic Circle ; 
and the error was reproduced by translation into other Euro- 
pean languages.* On the ground of discovery and occupation of 

* An English work translated into Italian, in the year in which Canada changed 
owners, describes New France as extending northward, at some points, to the 65° : — 
" Canada o Nuova Francia, colonia nelT America settentrionale appartenante ai Fran- 
cesi. Le frontiere di questo vasto paese sono dai Filosofi variamente fiffate, estenden- 
dole alcuni do tutta la Florida fino all' cstremetia settentrionale di America, o fia dia 
33. ai 65. gradi de lat. sett, benche il Canada, propriamente detto, sia solamente una 
piccola Provincia di tutto questo tratto, situata a Mezzogiorno, e Levante del Fiume 



102 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

contiguous territory, no nation could present a better claim than 
France to extend even to that latitude, above its discoveries on 
the Saskatchewan. Whether the writer be Jeffrey, or Montgo- 
mery Martin, or any other name that passes for authority, his 
loose and inaccurate statements are almost sure to furnish addi- 
tional proof that no reliance can be placed on ordinary writers on 
geography, any more than on ordinary map-makers, in questions 
which affect the boundaries of contiguous British provinces or ter- 
ritories in North America. Geographical discoveries, occupation, 
treaties, executive and legislative acts, form the crucial test to 
which all pretensions of whatever kind must be brought. 

I give two maps to show the state of geographical knowledge of 
the northern parts of North America, possessed respectively by 
the English and the French at the epoch of the Treaty of Utrecht ;; 
and a third showing the discoveries which France had made in 
the north-west at the epoch of the conquest of Canada.* This use 



S. Lorenzo, ed a Levante della sua imboccatura. Altri lo fanno consinare a Tramon- 
tano con la Terra de Labrador, o Nuova Brettagna, a Levante col mar Settentrionale, 
e la Nuova Inghilterra ec a Mezzogiorno con la Florida, et a Ponente col Nuovo Mes- 
sico, e le parti Settentrionali di esso non conoscinte. In consequenza di che si esten- 
derebbe dia 25. ai 53. gradi di lat. sett, e dai 76. ai 93. di long. occ. Ma la sua maggior 
estensione si prendre communement da Libeccio a Greco, cioe dalla Provincia di Pa- 
dona nella Nuova Spagna, fino a Capo Charles vicino alia Baja di S. Lorenzo, che si 
computa circa a 900 leghe. II Baron di la Hontan la sa solamente arrivare dia 39. ai 
65 gradi di lattitudine, cioS a dire dalla parte meridionale del lago Erio alia parte Set- 
tentrionale della Baja d'Hudson, edin longitudine dal Fiume Mississippi a Capo Raze 
in Terra Nuova ; ma e" certo secundo le pii recenti offervazioni publicate da M. Bellin, 
che la Provincia della Luisiana (secondo questo geografa Francesse) si dee estendere 
un gran numero di gradi piu verso Ponente dal luogo dove scorre il Fiume soprare- 
ferito."— II Gazettiere Americano, tradutto daW Inglese, 1763. 

* I have selected De Lisle's map, because its author was beyond question the first 
geographer of his time, and because he produced by far the best map of Canada, at 
that period. Several foreign Sovereigns tried in vain to entice him to take up his 
residence in their capitals ; and Peter the Great is said to have made a visit to Paris 
for that purpose. Hermon Moll, though not nearly so well informed a geographer, is 
officially described by Carteret, in licensing Salmon's Modern History, as "the most 
accurate and correct geographer of this age." His map is, therefore, a fair exposition 
of the knowledge which the best informed English geographer then possessed of the 
northern part of North America. The rude chart intended to illustrate the discoveries 
of M. de la Verandrye is evidently drawn by an unpractised hand, and must not be 
submitted to those'^critical tests which would properly be applied if the author were a 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. lOo* 

of maps will, I think, be found to be intelligible. I have not pre- 
sumed to mark lines of boundary where none have been settled, 
or pretended to reproduce those drawn on maps used in the nego- 
tiation of treaties — maps which I have uot seen, and the very- 
existence of which at this time is doubtful — but have contented 
myself with giving the information on which, so far as I have 
been able to discover, the northern and western boundaries of 
Canada depend. I do not pretend to say that I have fully ex- 
hausted the subject : some of the materials necessary to an 
exhaustive treatment of it are to be found only in Europe. 

Let us now briefly sum up the conclusions to which the facts 
passed in review point. 

The rights of the English derived from discovery in Hudson's 
Bay were local, and may be regarded as having lapsed for want 
of being followed up by settlement. In this way the country be- 
came open to the enterprise of any nation that would take the 
trouble to seize it. Whether or not France took formal posses- 
sion of the Bay, by an overland expedition, before the English 
went there as traders, — they had certainly preceded the French as 
maritime discoverers in this quarter, — under the guidance of two 
Frenchmen, cannot be of any consequence ; since, if they did, their 
visit was not followed up by continuous occupation, and they, 
like the English, left the country vacant and open to the enter- 
prise of any nation disposed to occupy and hold it against all 
comers.* From about the time of the formation of the Hudson's 



professional geographer. It does not even show the full extent of the French dis- 
coveries in the North- West ; but it attests the existence of French posts as far as 
Lake Winnipeg, and of discoveries farther west, and is so far official that it was sent 
by the Governor of Canada to the Marine Department ten years before the conquest. 
Two years before the date of this map the French discoveries had been pushed to the 
forks of the Saskatchewan. The date is probably that at which it was received at the 
Marine Department. 

* " Where there is clear evidence of abandonment — where the discovery is not fol- 
lowed by preparations to occupy — a settlement may be made in opposition to a title of 
discovery. Where, also, the territory can be separated by any natural and distinct 
boundary, whether that of distance from prior settlements, or the physical facts of 
mountains or deserts, a settlement can be made in opposition to any previously 
made. . . . The great- lakes to the west and north-west of the source of the 



104) UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Bay Company, both England and France were eager to possess the 
Bay ; and the contests which they carried on for its possession 
continued with little abatement, and varying degrees of vigour, 
till, by the Treaty of Utrecht, France restored the Bay and Straits 
to England. 

Twice, after its formation, the Hudson's Bay Company lost ter- 
ritory on the shores of the Bay ; territory in the possession of 
which France was confirmed by the British Crown : First, by the 
Treaty of Neutrality, and afterwards by the Treaty of Ryswick. 
England retrieved the loss at Utrecht ; but no new grant of the 
restored territory was made to the Company. 

If the word M restoration " is to be taken in its strict sense, and 
if France could restore only what she had possessed around the 
Bay, it is certain that that would not imply any considerable dis- 
tance from the shore. The map used by the negotiators of the 
treaty, and on which they marked two lines, the space between 
which was to be the only disputable ground, if it could be found, 
would throw much light on their intentions. It is presumable 
from the apologetic language of Prior, that these lines did not 
leave England any considerable extent of country round the Bay. 

If the Treaty of Utrecht is to be regarded as giving England, 
in their full extent, the rivers that empty into Hudson's Bay, it is 
certain that France afterwards took possession of much of the 
country traversed by these rivers, and that England lost so much 
of her rights by abandonment, and neglect to reclaim them. In 
no case could the Hudson's Bay Company cross the height of 
land on the south. How far it did actually extend in that direc- 
tion, at different points along the line, is a question involved in 
some obscurity. But there is no reason to believe that, along the 
greater part of the line, it had ever approached near the source 
of the two watersheds, in 1791. And several years after that 
date, all the territory now in dispute between Ontario and the 

Mississippi had been discovered by the French, and formed part of the Province of 
Canada. . . . But 'a settlement' must be understood to mean the establishment 
of the laws or government of the persons making the settlement, with the consent 
and authority of the nation to which they belong." — Falconer: Discovery of the 
Mississippi. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 105 

Dominion, up to the Lake of the Woods, and other territory 
north-west of that point, continued in the possession of the 
North-west Company, whose trading journeys, in 1797, Mr. 
Thompson distinctly states, "extended to within two or three 
days' march of the shores and factories of Hudson Bay." 

Over the unknown North-west the French gradually spread 
themselves to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, without, so far as 
I have seen, any complaints of encroachment from the English. 
This North-west never came into possession of the English till 
after the French had vacated it in consequence of the conquest of 
Canada. The map used by the negotiators of the Treaty of Ces- 
sion is said to prove that England received all that country either 
as part of Canada or one of its dependencies. And the first 
British subjects to occupy it were not of the Hudson's Bay 
Company.* In 1774, that Company had only extended from 
the north, as far south-west as lat. 53° 56', long. 102° 15', which 
is north of Lake Winnepagoes ; and in that year the southern 
boundary of the Company's territory became the northern boun- 
dary of Canada. Governor Carleton's commission, issued that 
year, makes the Mississippi the western limit of his government to 
the source of that river ; and a subsequent Commission, granted to 
him as Lord Dorchester, makes the northern boundary of Canada 
somewhere north of the north-west corner of the Lake of the 
Woods. The limits of Ontario, on the north and the west, are 
identical with those of the late Province of Upper Canada. 

In 1791, a royal proclamation, founded on an Act of the Impe- 
rial Parliament, extended the bounds of Canada northward to the 
Hudson's Bay Company's territory, and westward to the utmost 
extent of country u commonly called or known by the name of 
Canada " — in other words, as far as it was previously known to 
extend.-)- The map drawn up to illustrate the discoveries of M. 

* For an official recognition of the North-west Company, the instructions of Ross 
and Parry. 

+ Whatever the British Government may have known of the extent of the country, 
its knowledge of the geography of the North-west may be judged by the fact that it 
did not know whether a vessel, starting from the Pacific Ocean, could sail through the 
Rocky Mountains and reach the Lake of the Woods, as the instructions of Vancouver, 
this year, prove. 



106 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

de la Verandrye extends Canada into the valley of the Sas- 
katchewan ; the map used by the French to show the extent of 
the country when it was ceded by them, is said to have extended 
the country to north-west of the Mississippi ; and the commission 
of Lord Dorchester extends it north of the Lake of the Woods. I 
can see no reason why the Canada of 1791 should not be co-exten- 
sive with the Canada known to the French in the last years be- 
fore the conquest, and ceded to the English ; and it must certainly 
extend as far as the limits recognized by the Commission of Lord 
Dorchester in 1786. Any abatement of the claim of Ontario 
indicated by these facts, points to a conventional line, which con- 
venience or compromise may establish b} T mutual agreement. 



PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



TREATIES. 



Treaty of St. Germain, 1632. 

Traite entre Louis XIII., Roi de France, et Charles I., Roi d'An- 
gleterre, pour la restitution de la Nouvelle France, VAcadie 
et le Canada, et des Navires et Marchandises pris de par 
et $ autre. Fait a St. Germain-en-Laye, le 29eme jour de 
Mars, 1632. 

III. De la part de Sa Majeste* de la Grande Bre'tagne, ledit 
Sieur Ambassadeur, (Sir Isaac Wake,) en vertu du pouvoir qu'il a, 
lequel sera a la fin des pre'sentes, a promis et promet pour et au 
nom de Sadite Majeste*, de rendre et restituer a Sa Majeste* Tr&s- 
Chre'tienne, tous les lieux occupe*s en la Nouvelle France, 1' Acadie 
et le Canada, par les sujets de Sa Majeste* de la Grande Bre'tagne, 
iceux faire retirer desdits lieux. Et pour cet effet ledit Sieur Ambas- 
sadeur delivrera, lors de la passation et signature des pre'sentes, aux 
commissaires du Roi Tr£s-Chre*tien, en bonne forme le Pouvoir qu'il 
a de Sa Majeste* de la Grande Bre'tagne, pour la restitution desdits 
lieux, ensemble les commandements de Sadite Majeste*, a tous 
ceux qui commandent dans le Fort-Royal, Fort de Que'bec et Cap 
Breton, pour etre lesdites places et forts rendues et re*mis es mains 
de ceux qu'il plaira a Sa Majeste* Tres-Chre*tienne ordonner, huit 
jours apres lesdits commandements auront etc* notifies a ceux qui 
commandent ou commanderont esdits lieux, ledit terns de huit 
jours leur e*tant donne* pour retirer, cependant, hors desdits lieux, 
places et forts leurs armes, bagage, marchandises ou argent, usten- 
siles, et gene*ralement tout ce qui leur appartient, auxquels et a 
tous ceux qui sont esdits lieux est donne* le terme de trois semaines 



108 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

apres lesdits huifc jours expires, pour durant icelles, ou plutot si 
faire se peut, retirer en leur navires avec leurs armes, munitions, 
bagages, &c., argent, ustensiles, marchandises, pelleteries, et gene*- 
ralement tout ce qui leur appartient, pour de la se retirer en 
Angle terre, sans sojourner davantage esdit pais. Et comme il est 
ne*cessaire que les Anglois envoyent esdits lieux pour reprendre leur 
gens et les ramener en Angleterre, il est accorde* que le general de 
Caen payera les frais ne*cessaires pour 1' Equipage d'un navirede deux 
cent ou deux cent cinquante tonneaux de port, que les Anglais 
envoyeront esdits lieux, a scavoir : le louage d'un navire d'all^e et 
de retours, victuailles de gens, tant de marins pour la conduite du 
navire, que de ceux qui sont a terre, lesquels on doit ramener ; 
salaire d'iceux, et gdneValement tout ce qui est ne*cessaire pour 
1' Equipage d'un navire dudit port pour un tel voyage, selon les 
usages et coutumes d' Angleterre ; et de plus, que pour les marchan- 
dises loyales et marchandises qui pourront rester es mains des 
Anglois non troquds, il leur donnera satisfaction esdits lieux selon 
qu'elles auront conte* en Angleterre avec trente pour cent de profit, 
en consideration des risques de la mer et port d'icelles paye* par 



* III. On the part of the King of Great Britain, the said ambassador, in virtue 
of the powers with which he is vested, and which shall be inserted at the end of these 
presents, has promised and promises in the name of his said Majesty to give up and re- 
store (rendre et restituer) all the places occupied in New France, Acadia and Canada 
by the subjects of the King of Great Britain, by whom these places shall be restored ; 
and to this end the said ambassador shall deliver at the time of the signature of these 
presents to the commissioners of His Most Christian Majesty, in due form, the autho- 
rity which he received from the King of Great Britain for the restitution of the said 
places, together with the orders of his said Majesty to all those who had command in 
Fort Royal, the Fort of Quebec and Cape Breton, for the restoration of the said places 
and forts given up into the hands of those whom it may please His Most Christian Ma- 
jesty to appoint, eight days after these orders shall have been notified to those who 
command or may then command ; the said time of eight days being given to them to 
remove from those places and forts their arms, baggage, merchandize or money, uten- 
sils, and generally everything that belongs to them ; to whom and to all who are in the 
said places, the term of three weeks, after the expiration of the eight days, is given that 
they may during that time, or sooner if possible, retire to their vessels with their arms, 
munitions, baggage or money, utensils, merchandize, furs, and generally everything 
that belongs to them, for the purpose of going thence to England without remaining 
longer in this country. And as it is necessary for the English to send to those places 
to fetch their people and take them back to England, it is agreed that General de Caen 



unsettled boundaries of ontario. 10£ 

Treaty of Breda, 1667. 

Art X. Le ci-devant nomme* seigneur le Roi de la Grande Bre- 
tagne restituera aussi et rendra au ci-desus nomine* seigneur le 
Roi Tres Chretien on a ceux qui auront charge et mandement de 
sa part, scene's en bonne forme du grand sceau de France, le pays 
appele' TAcadie, situe' dans l'Amerique Septentrionale dont le Roi 
Tres Chretien a autrefois joui.* (Relates only to Nova Scotia.) 

Treaty of Nimeguen, 1678. 

Articles of Peace between the Emperor and the French King, 
concluded and signed at Nimeguen, the 3rd of December, 1678 : 

XXXII. Their Imperial and Most Christian Majestys, retaining 
a grateful sense of the offices and continual endeavours the Most 
Serene King of Great Britain hath used to restore a general 
peace and the public tranquillity, it is mutually agreed between 
the parties that he with his kingdom be included in this treaty, 
after the best and most effectual manner that may be. 

Art. I. That there be a Christian, universal, true and sincere peace 
and friendship between their Imperial and Most Christian Ma- 
jestys, their heirs and successors, kingdoms and provinces, as also 
between all and every the confederates of his said Imperial Majes- 

shall pay the necessary expense of equipping a vessel of two hundred tons or two hun- 
dred and fifty tons burthen which the English shall send to those places ; that is to say, 
the cost of chartering a vessel for the passage to and fro, the provisions of the sailors 
who work the vessel as well as of those who being on land are to be taken away, the 
wages of the men, and generally all that is necessary for the equipage of a vessel of 
the said tonage for such a voyage, according to the usages and customs of England ; 
and besides for the merchandize remaining unsold in the hands of the English, satisfac- 
tion shall be given, according to the cost in England, with thirty per cent, of profit, in 
consideration of the risk of the sea and port charges. 

* Art. X. The before mentioned seigneur, King of Great Britain, shall restore and 
give up to the above named seigneur, the Most Christian King, or to those who shall be 
charged and authorized on his part, sealed in proper form with the great seal of 
Trance, the country called Acadie situated in North America, of which the Most Chris- 
tian King was previously in enjoyment. 

Mr. Prior, in a letter to Lord Bolingbroke, dated Paris, March 25, 1713 :— " As to 
the original instrument of the Treaty of Breda, I may tell you that we never could 
find it, and consequently the Treaty of Byswick, ratified as you have it in one of the 
offices, remains still in French." 



110 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

ty, more particularly the electors, princes and states of the empire, 
comprehended in this peace, their heirs and successors on the one 
part, and all and every of the confederates of his said Most 
Christian Majesty, comprehended in this peace, their heirs and 
successors on the other ; which said peace and friendship shall be 
so sincerely observed and improved that each party shall promote 
the honour, advantage and interest of the other. And there shall 
be so perpetual an oblivion and amnesty of all hostilities committed 
on each side since the beginning of the present troubles, that 
neither party shall, upon that or any other account or pretence, 
give or cause to be given hereafter to the other any trouble, di- 
rectly or indirectly, under colour of law or way of fact, with- 
in or without the empire, any formal agreement to the contrary 
notwithstanding ; but all and every the injuries, violences, hos- 
tilities, damages and charges sustained on each side by words, 
writing or deeds shall without respect of persons or things be so 
entirely abolished that whatsoever may upon that account be 
pretended against [the other, shall be buried in perpetual obli- 
vion. 

Treaty of Neutrality. 

Traite de neutrality conclu a Londres le 16eme Novembre, 1686, 
entre Louis XIV., Roi de France, et Jacques II, Roi d'An- 
gleterre. 

I. II a este* conclu et accordc", que du jour du present traite*, il 
y aura entre la nation Francoise et la nation Angloise, une ferme 
paix, union, concorde, et bonne correspondence, tant sur mer que 
sur terre, dans l'Ame'rique Septentrionale et Me*ridionale, et dans 
les isles, colonies, forts et villes, sans aucune distinction de lieux, 
seises dans les e*tats de Sa Majeste* Tres Chre*tienne, et de Sa 
Majeste* Britannique, et gouverne*es par les commandants de leur 
susdites Majeste*s respectivement. 

II. Qu'aucuns vaisseaux ou batiments, grands ou petits, apparte- 
nant au sujets de Sa Majeste* Tr£s Chre'tienne, ne seront e*quipez 
ni employ ez dans lesdites isles, colonies, forter esses, villes, et gou- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. Ill 

vernements des e*tats de Sa Majesty pour attaquer les sujets de Sa 
Majesty Britannique, dans les isles, colonies, forteresses, villes, et 
gou vernements de Sadite Majesty ou pour leur faire aucun tort 
ni dommage. Et pareillement qu'aucun vaisseaux ou batiments, 
grands ou'petits, appartenant aux sujets de Sa Majeste* Britannique, 
ne seront e*quipez ou employez dans les isles, colonies, forteresses, 
villes, et gou vernements de Sadite Majeste', pour attaquer les sujets 
de Sa Majeste* Tres Chr£tienne dans les isles, colonies, forteresses, 
villes, et gou vernements de Sadite Majeste*, ou pour leur faire aucun 
tort ni dommage. 

III. Qu'aucuns soldats ou gens de guerre, ou autres personnes 
quelconques, qui habitent et demeurent dans lesdites isles, colo- 
nies, fortresses, villes, et gouvernements de Sa Majeste* Tres Chre*- 
tienne, Ou qui y viennent d' Europe en garnison, n'exerceront aucun 
acte d'hostilite*, et ne feront aucun tort ou dommage, directement 
ou in directement, aux sujets deSa Majeste* Britannique dans lesdites 
isles, colonies, forteresses, villes et gouvernements de Sadite Ma- 
jeste*; et ne presteront ni donneront aucun aide ou secours d'hommes 
ou de vivres aux sauvages contre qui Sa Majeste* Britannique aura 
la guerre. Et pareillement qu'aucuns soldats ou gens de guerre, 
ou autres personnes quelconques, qui habitent et demeurent dans 
lesdites isles, colonies, forteresses, villes, et gouvernements de Sa 
Majeste* Britannique, ou qui y viennent d'Europe en garnison, 
n'exerceront aucun acte d'hostilite*, et ne feront tort ou dommage 
aux sujets de Sa Majeste* Tres Chre*tienne dans lesdites isles, colo- 
nies, forteresses, villes, et gouvernements de Sa Majeste* : : et ne pres- 
teront, ne donneront aucune aide ou secours d'hommes ou de vivres 
aux sauvages avec qui Sa Majeste* Tr&s Chre*tienne aura guerre. 

IV. II a e*te* convenu que chacun desdits Rois aura et tiendra 
les domaines, droits et preeminences dans les mers, de*troits, et 
autres eaux de l'Am6*rique, et avec la m§me e*tendue qui leur 
appartient de droit, et en la meme maniere qu'ils jouissent a 
present. ***** 

XI. Que les commandants, officiers, sujets de l'un des deux Rois, 
ne troubleront ni molesteront les sujets de l'autre Roi dans l'e*tablis- 
sement de leur colonies respectivement, ou dans leur commerce et 
navigation. 



112 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

XII. Et aiin de pourvoir plus pleinement a la se'curite' des sujets, 
tant de Sa Majeste* Tr&s Chre*tienne, que de Sa Majeste* Britan- 
nique, et a ce que les vaisseaux de guerre, ou autres vaisseaux 
armes en guerre par des particuliers, ne leur fassent aucun tort 
ni dommage, il sera de*fendu a tous les capitaines de vaisseaux,. 
tant de Sa Majeste* Tres Chre*tienne, que de Sa Majeste* Britannique,. 
et a tous leurs sujets qui e*quiperont des vaisseaux a leurs de*pens ;. 
comme aussi aux privilege's et aux compagnies, de faire aucun 
tort ou dommage a ceux de l'autre nation, sous peine d'etre punis- 
en cas de contravention, et de plus d'etre tenus a tous dommages 
et intents, k quoi ils pourront ^tre contraints, tant par saisie de 
leur biens que par emprisonnement de leur personnes. 

By Art. XIII. All captains of war vessels, armed at the expense 
of private persons, were hereafter to give bonds in the sum of 
£1,000 stg., or 13,000 livres, and when the number of men is. 
more than 150, in £2,000 stg., or 26,000 livres, that they wouldi 
make good all damages which they or their officers might cause- 
in the course of their navigation against the present treaty. 

By Art. XIV. The governors and officers of the two Kings were 
to discountenance all pirates ; not to giving them any aid nor 
allowing them to take shelter in their ports respectively ; et qu'il 
sera expresse'ment ordonne* auxdits gouverneurs et officiers de 
punir comme pirates tous ceux qui se trouveront avoir arme* un ou 
plusieurs vaisseaux en course, sans commission et autorite* legitime. 

XV. Made the taking, by the subject of either King, of any com- 
mission in the army of a sovereign at war with the other piracy. 

XVII. If disputes arise between the subjects of the two Crowns 
in the isles, colonies, ports, towns and governments under their 
dominion, they are not to be allowed to interrupt the peace, but 
are to be decided by those having authority on the spot, and in 
case they cannot decide them, they are to remit them at once to 
the two Crowns, to be settled by their Majesties. 

XVIII. De plus, it a este* conclu et accords, que si jamais, ce 
qu'& Dieu ne plaise, il arrive quelque rupture en Europe entre les- 
dites Couronnes, les garnisons, gens de guerre, ou sujets quelconques 
de Sa Majeste* Tres Chre*tienne, estant dans les isles, colonies, forts,. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 113 

villes, et gouvernements qui sont a present ou seront ci-apres sous 
la domination de Sadite Majesty dans lAme'rique, n'exerceront 
aucun acte d'hostilite* par mer ni par terre, contre les sujets de Sa 
Majesty Brifcannique qui habiteront dans quelques colonies que ce 
soit de l'Amerique, ou y demeureront. Et rdciproquement, audit 
cas de rupture en Europe, les garnisons, gens de guerre, ou sujets 
quelconques de Sa Majesty Britannique, estans dans les isles, colo- 
nies, forts, villes, et gouvernements qui sont a present ou seront ci- 
apres sous la domination de Sa Majesty Britannique en Ame'rique, 
n'exerceront aucun acte d'hostilite, ni par mer ni par terre, contre 
les sujets de Sa Majesty Tres Chretienne, qui habiteront dans quel- 
ques colonies que ce soit de l'Amerique, ou y demeureront. Mais 
il y aura touj ours une veritable et ferme paix et neutrality entre 
lesdits peuples de France et de la Grande Bre*tagne, tout de m§me 
que si ladite rupture n'e'tait point arrive' en Europe. 5 



* 



* Treaty of Neutrality concluded at London, the 16th November, 1686, between Louis 
XIV., King of France, and James II., King of England. 

I. It has been concluded and agreed that from the day of the present Treaty there 
shall be between the English and the French nations a firm peace, union, concord, and 
good correspondence as well by sea as land in North and South America, and in the 
isles, colonies, forts and towns, without exception, in the territories of his Most Christian 
Majesty, and governed by the Commandants of their said Majesties respectively. 

II. That no vessel or boat, large or small, belonging to the subjects of his Most 
Christian Majesty shall be equipped or employed in the said isles, colonies, fortresses, 
towns and governments of his said Majesty, for the purpose of attacking the subjects of 
his Britannic Majesty, in the isles, colonies, fortresses, towns and governments of his 
-aid Majesty, or doing there any harm or damage. And in this manner, likewise, that 
no vessel or boat, great or small, belonging to the subjects of his Britannic Majesty 
shall be equipped or employed in the isles, colonies, fortresses, town and governments 
of his said Majesty, for the purpose of attacking the subjects of his most Christian 
Majesty in the isles, colonies, fortresses, towns and governments of his said Majesty. 
or to do them any injury or damage 

III. That no soldier or person wearing arms or any other person whatsoever residing 
or living in the said isles, towns, or governments of his Most Christian Majesty, or who 
has come from European garrison, shall exercise any act of hostility, or do any injury 
or damage, directly or indirectly, to the subjects of his Britannic Majesty in the said 
isles, colonies, fortresses, towns and governments of his said Majesty ; or lend or give 
any aid or assistance in men or provisions to savages against whom his Britannic 
Majesty shall be at war. And in like manner, no soldier or armed person, or any 
other person whatever, residing or being in the said isles, colonies, fortresses, towns 
and governments of his said Britannic Majesty, or who having come from Europe in 
garrison, shall exercise any act of hostility or do any injury or damage to subjects 

8 



114 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

[XIX. This treaty not to derogate from the Treaty of Breda, July,. 
1667, all the articles of which are to remain in force and vigour 
and be observed.] 

Provisional Treaty Concerning America, 1687. 

Traits provisionnel concemant VAmerique, entre le Roi de 
Finance et leRoi d Angleterre,conclu a Whitehall, le 1-11 DScembre y 
1687 — Between Louis XIV. and James II., M. Paul Barillon, 
Councillor of State and French Ambassador, M. Francois Dusson 
de Bonrepans, were the Commissaires for France, and Counts 
Sunderland and Middle ton and Sidney, Lord of Godolphin, were 
appointed on behalf of Great Britain, pour l'execution du traits 
conclu le 6-16 Novembre, 1686, pour rdgler et terminer toutes les 
contestations et differends qui sont survenus, ou qui peuvent sur- 
venir entre les sujets des deux Couronnes en Ame'rique, comme 

of his Most Christian Majesty in the said isles, colonies, fortresses, towns and govern- 
ments of his Majesty ; or lend or give any aid or assistance, in men or provisions, to 
savages with whom his Most Christian Majesty shall be at war. 

IV. It has been agreed that each of the said kings shall have and hold the domains, 
rights, and pre-eminences in the seas, straits, and other waters of America, and in the 
same extent which of right belongs to them and in the same way they enjoy them at 
present. 

V. And therefore the subjects, inhabitants, merchants, commanders of ships, masters 
and mariners of the kingdoms, provinces and dominions of each king respectively shall 
abstain and forbear to trade and fish in all the places possessed, or which shall be 
possessed by one or the other party in America, viz. : the King of Great Britain's sub- 
jects shall not drive their trade and commerce, nor fish in the harbours, bays, creeks, 
roads, shoals or places which the Most Christian King holds or shall hereafter hold in 
America : And in like manner, the Most Christian King's subjects shall not drive 
their commerce and trade, nor fish in the waters, bays, creeks, roads, shoals or places 
which the King of Great Britain possesses or shall hereafter possess in America. And 
if any ship or vessel shall be found trading or fishing contrary to the tenure of this 
Treaty, the said ship or vessel, with its lading, proof being given thereof, shall be con- 
fiscated ; nevertheless, the party who shall find himself aggrieved by such sentence or 
confiscation, shall have liberty to apply himself to the Privy Council of the King, by 
whose governors or judges the sentence has been given against him. But it is always 
to be understood that the liberty of navigation ought in no manner to be disturbed, 

where nothing is committed against the genuine sense of this Treaty. 

******** 

XL The commandants, officers, subjects of one and the other of the two kings, shall 
not molest the subjects of the other king in the establishment of their colonies respec- 
tively, or in their commerce and navigation. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 115 

aussi pour fixer les bornes et limites des colonies, isles, terres et 
pays qui sont sous la domination des deux Rois en l'Ame'rique et 
gouverne's par leur commandants, ou qui sont de leur de'pendances ; 
nous, commissaires susdits, en vertu des pouvoirs qui nous ont 6t6 
donne's par lesdits Rois nos maitres, promettons, convenons et 
stipulons en leur nom, par le present traite* que jusques au 11 de 
Janvier de l'anne'e 1689, nouveau style, et apres ce temps-la 
jusqu'a ce que lesdits Sere'nissimes Rois donnent sur eel a quelques 
nouveaux ordres expres et par e'crit, il est absolument ddfendu a 
toutes personnes et aux commandants ou gouverneurs des colonies, 
isles, terres et pays qui sont sous la domination des deux Rois dans 
l'Ame'rique, d'exercer aucun acte d'hostilite' contre les sujets de l'un 
desdits Rois, ou de les attaquer ; et les commandants ou gouver- 
neurs ne souffriront pas, sous quelque pr^texte que ce soit, qu'il 
leur soit fait aucune violence ; et en cas de contre vention de la part 
desdits gouverneurs, il seront punis et obliges en leur propre et 
prive' nom, a la reparation du dommage qui aura 6t6 cause* par une 

XII. For the greater security of the subjects of his Most Chiistian Majesty as well 
as those of his Britannic Majesty, and to prevent vessels of war or other vessels owned 
by private persons doing any injury or damage, all captains of vessels, as well of his 
Most Christian Majesty as those of his Britannic Majesty, and all their subjects who 
equip vessels at their own expense, also persons in the enjoyment of privileges and 
companies, shall be forbidden to do any injury or damage to those of the other nation, 
on pain of being punished in case of contravention, and be liable for all damages, either 
by the seizure of their goods or the imprisonment of their persons. 

XVIII. — Further, it has been concluded and agreed that if ever, which God forbid, 
any rupture should take place in Europe between the said Crowns, the garrison, armed 
forces, or subjects of whatever condition of his Most Christian Majesty, being in the 
isles, colonies, forts, towns and governments which are at present, or may hereafter be, 
under the dominion of his said Majesty in America, shall not exercise any act of hos- 
tility by sea or land against the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, inhabitants of any 
of the colonies of America. And in like manner, in case of a rupture in Europe, the 
garrison, armed force, or subjects of whatever condition of His Britannic Majesty, 
being in the isles, colonies, forts, towns and governments which are at present, or may 
hereafter be, under the dominion of His Britannic Majesty in America, shall not ex- 
ercise any act of hostility, either by sea or land, against the subjects of His Most Chris- 
tian Majesty inhabiting any colony whatever in America. But there shall always be 
a firm peace and neutrality between the said peoples of France and of Great Britain, 
just as if no such rupture had taken place. 

* * * * * * * *. 

XIX.— This Treaty not to derogate from the Treaty of Breda, July, 1667, all the 
articles of which are to remain in force and vigour and be observed. 



116 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

telle contravention ; ce qui aura lieu aussi a regard de tous autres 
contreventions, et la pre*sente convention aura son plein et entier 
effet en la meilleure maniere que ce puisse §tre ; nous soinmes con- 
venus, en outre, que lesdits Se're'nissimes Rois envoyeront au 
plutot les ordres ne*cessaires a cet e*gard a leurs commandants en 
l'Ame'rique, et qu'il en sera re'mis re'ciproquement de part et d' autre 
des exemplaires authentiques. 

(SignS,) BARILLQN D'AMONCOURT. 

DUSSON de BONREPANS. 
Comes de SUNDERLAND. 
Comes de MIDDLETON. 
GODOLPHIN* 



* Provisional Treaty concerning America, between the King of France and the King 
of England, concluded at Whitehall, December 11, 1687 [Louis XIV. and James II.] 
M. Paul Barillon, Councillor of State and French Ambassador, M. Frangois Dusson 
de Bonrepans, were the Commissaires for France, and Counts Sunderland and Middle- 
ton, and Lord of Godolphin, were appointed on behalf of Great Britain, to execute the 
treaty concluded on the 6-16 November, to settle and terminate all the differences which 
have arisen between the subjects of the two Crowns, in America, as well as to fix the 
bounds and limits of the colonies, isles, lands, and countries which are under the do- 
minion of the two Kings in America and governed by their commandants, or which 
are of their dependencies ; we, the undernamed Commissioners, in virtue of the powers 
which we have received from the said Kings, our Masters, promise, agree and stipulate 
in their name, by the present treaty, that, up to the ] 1th January of the year 1689, 
new style, and after that time until the said Most Serene Kings give some new and ex- 
press order in writing, all persons and governors and commanders of the colonies, isles, 
lands and countries whatsoever under the dominion of the two Kings in America, are 
absolutely forbidden to commit any act of hostility against the subjects of the said 
Kings, or to attack them ; and the Governors and Commandants are not to suffer, 
under any pretext whatever, that they shall do any violence ; and in case of contra- 
vention on the part of the said Governors, they shall be punished, and obliged, in their 
own private names, to make restitution for the damage which may have been done by 
such contravention ; and the same shall be done in the case of all other contraventions ; 
and the present convention shall have full and entire effect in the best manner possi- 
ble. We have, besides, agreed that the said Most Serene Kings shall as soon as possible 
send the necessary orders to their commandants in America, and that each shall send 
to the other authentic copies of the same. 

(Signed) BARILLON D'AMONCOURT. 

DUSSON DE BONREPANS. 

SUNDERLAND. 

MIDDLETON. 

GODOLPHIN. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 117 
THE TREATY OF RYSWICK, 1697. 

(From the Copy published in England by Authority in 1697 .) 

VII. The Most Christian King shall restore to the said King 
of Great Britain all countries, islands, forts and colonies, whereso- 
ever situated, which the English did possess before the declara- 
tion of this present war. And in like manner the King of Great 
Britain shall restore to the Most Christian King all countries, 
islands, forts and colonies, wheresoever situated, which the French 
did possess before the declaration of war ; and this restitution 
shall be made on both sides within the space of six months or 
sooner, if it can be done. And to that end, immediately after the 
ratification of this Treaty, each of the said Kings shall deliver or 
cause to be delivered to the other, or to commissioners authorized 
in his name for that purpose, all acts of concession, instruments 
and necessary orders duly made and in proper form, so that they 
may have their effect. 

VIII. Commissioners shall be appointed on both sides to ex- 
amine and determine the rights and pretensions which either of 
the said Kings hath to the places situated in Hudson's Bay ; 
but the possession of those places which were taken by the 
French, during the peace that preceded this present war, and 
were retaken by the English during this war, shall be left to the 
French by virtue of the foregoing articles. The capitulation 
made by the English on the 5th September, 1695, shall be ob- 
served according to its form and tenor, the merchandizes therein 
mentioned shall be restored ; the Governor at the Fort taken 
there shall be set at liberty, if it be not already done ; the dif- 
ferences which have arisen concerning the execution of the said 
capitulation and the value of the goods there lost, shall be adju- 
dicated and determined by the said commissioners : who, imme- 
diately after the ratification of the present Treaty, shall be in- 
vested with sufficient authority for the settling of the limits and 
confines of the lands to be restored on either side by virtue of the 
foregoing article, and likewise for exchanging of lands, as may 
conduce to the mutual interest and advantage of both Kings. 






118 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

THE TREATY OF AIX LA CHAPELLE, 1748. 

(From the Copy 'published by Authority in 1749J 

Art. V. All the conquests that have been made since the com- 
mencement of the present war, or which, since the conclusion of 
the preliminary articles, signed the 30th April last, may have been 
or shall be made, either in Europe, or the East and West Indies, or 
in any other part of the world whatsoever, being to be restored 
without exception, in conformity to what was stipulated by the 
said preliminary articles, and by the declarations since signed, the 
high contracting parties engage to give orders immediately for 
proceeding to the restitution, as well as to the putting the most se- 
rene Infant Don Philip in possession of the States, which are to be 
yielded to him by virtue of the said preliminaries, the said par- 
ties solemnly renouncing, as well for themselves as their heirs 
and successors, all rights and claims, by what title or pretence 
soever, to all the states, countries, and places that they respect- 
ively engage to restore or yield ; saving, however, the reversion 
stipulated of the States yielded to the most serene Infant Don 
Philip. 

THE TREATY OF 1763. 

The definitive Treaty of Friendship and Peace between his Bri- 
tannic Majesty, the most Christian King, and the King of Spain, 
concluded at Paris the 10th day of Feb., 1703. To which the 
King of Portugal acceded on the same day. 

Art. II The Treaties of Westphalia of 1648 ; those of Madrid 
between the Crowns of Great Britain and Spain of 1667 and 
1670 : the Treaties of Peace of Nimeguen of 1678 and 1679 ; of 
Byswick of 1697 ; those of Peace and Commerce of Utrecht of 
1713 ; that of Baden 1714; the Treaty of the Triple Alliance of 
the Hague of 1717 ; that of the Quadruple Alliance of London of 
1718 ; the Treaty of Peace of Vienna of 1738 ; the definitive 
Treaty of Aix La Chapelle of 1748 ; and that of M^irid, between 
the Crowns of Great Britain and Spain of 1750 ; as well as the 
Treaties between the Crowns of Spain and Portugal of the 13th 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 119 

of February, 1668 ; of the 6th of February, 1715 ; and on the 
12th of February, 1761 ; and that of the 11th of April, 1713 ; be- 
tween France and Portugal, with the Guarantees of Great Britain, 
serve as a basis and foundation to the peace and the present 
Treaty ; and for this purpose, they are all renewed and confirmed 
in the best form, as well as all the Treaties in general, which sub- 
sisted between the high contracting parties before the war, as if 
they were inserted here word for word, so that they are to be ex- 
actly observed for the future, in their whole tenor, and reli- 
giously executed on all sides, in all their points which shall not 
be derogated from by the present Treaty, notwithstanding all 
that may have been stipulated to the contrary by any of the 
high contracting parties : and all the said parties declare, that 
they will not suffer any privilege, favour or indulgence, to subsist, 
contrary to the Treaties above confirmed, except what shall have 
been agreed and stipulated by the present Treaty. 

Art. VII. In order to re-establish peace on solid and durable 
foundations, and to remove for ever all subject of dispute with re- 
gard to the limits of the British and French territories on the 
Continent of America, it is agreed, that, for the future, the con- 
fines between the dominions of his Britannic Majesty and those of 
his Most Christian Majesty, in that part of the world, shall be 
fixed irrevocably by a line drawn along the middle of the river 
Mississippi, from its source to the river Iberville, and from thence 
by a line drawn along the middle of this river, and the lakes 
Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the sea ; and for this purpose the 
Most Christian King cedes in full right, and guarantees to his 
Britannic Majesty the river and port of the Mobile, and everything 
which he possesses, or ought to possess, on the left side of the 
Mississippi, except the town of New Orleans, and the Island in 
which it is situated, which shall remain to France ; provided that 
the navigation of the Mississippi shall be equally free, as well to 
the subjects of Great Britain as to those of France, in its whole 
breadth and length, from its source to the sea, and expressly that 
part which is between the said island of New Orleans and the 
right bank of that river, as well as the passage both in and out of 
its mouth. 



120 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

RIGHTS DERIVED FROM DISCOVERY. 

M. de Calliers* to M. de Seignelay. (This memoir is without 
date, but it appears to have been written in 1687.) 

" The third pretension of the English is to drive the French 
from Hudson's Bay, the whole of which country they claim as 
their property. And, in consequence of this pretension, they des- 
patched some vessels last year to that Bay, which carried off 
several Frenchmen, whom a Company, formed at Quebec, settled 
at a place called the River Bourbon, and conveyed them to 
London, with the beaver and other peltries belonging to the said 
French Company, amounting to the value of nearly two hundred 
thousand livres. * * * 

" As regards Hudson's Bay, the French settled there in 1656, 
by virtue of an arret of the Sovereign Council of Quebec, authoriz- 
ing Sieur Bourdon, its Attorney-General, to make the discovery 
thereof, who went north to the said Bay, and took possession 
thereof in His Majesty's name. 

"In 1661, Father Dablon, a Jesuit, was ordered by Sieur d'Argen- 
son, at the time Governor of Canada, to proceed to said country. 
He went thither accordingly, and the Indians, who then came from 
thence to Quebec, declared they had never seen any Europeans 
there. 

"In 1663,Sieurd'Avaugour, Governor of Canada, sent Sieur Cou- 
ture, Seneshal of the C6te de Beaupre*, to the north of the said 
Hudson's Bay, in company with a number of Indians of that 
country, with whom he went to take possession thereof, and he 
set up the King's arms there. 

" In the year 1663, Sieur Duquet, King's Attorney to the 
Prevote of Quebec, and Jean l'Anglois, a Canadian colonist, 
went thither again by order of the said Sieur d'Argenson, and re- 
newed the act of taking possession by setting up his Majesty's 
arms there a second time. This is proved by the arrSt of the said 
Sovereign Council of Quebec, and by orders in writing of said 
Sieurs d'Argenson and d'Avaugour. 

* A veteran who had served twenty years in the French armies. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 121 

"The English allege that the north coast of Hudson's Bay, 
where the French established themselves, has been discovered by 
Chevalier Button, an Englishman, as early as 1621.* But we 
answer that he made no record there of taking possession, and 
that they did not have any settlement there before the year 1667, 
when the Frenchmen named des Grozelliers and Raddisson con- 
ducted the English thither to a place they called Nelson's River ; 
and in 1676 the said des Grozelliers and Raddisson, having re- 
turned from England, and having obtained pardon for their defec- 
tion, a company was formed at Quebec who sent them to Hudson's 
Bay, where they founded a settlement north of the said Bay on the 
River Bourbon, which is the one the English seized last year, in 
consequence of a new treachery on the part of said Raddisson, who 
re-entered their service and conducted them thither. Meanwhile, 
the company formed at Quebec sent two ships to the said Bay last 
year, under the impression that they would find their people, with 
a quantity of peltries, at the settlement on the River Bourbon, of 
right belonging to them, where the company is in a condition to 
maintain itself if protected by His Majesty. "-f- 

SHOULD THE OBJECT OF VOYAGES BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT? 

On doit distinguer les navigations qui ont et6* dirige'es vers le 
continent de l'Amerique Septentrionale, sous dessein d'y faire 
des plantations et d'y e'tablir des colonies, d'avec celles qui ont 
e*te* entreprises dans cette vue ; et parmi ces dernieres, celles qui 
se sont borne'es a de simple tentatives infructueuses, d'avec 
celles qui ont ete* suivies d'e'tablissementssolides, actuellement sub- 
sistants, ou qui subsisteroient, si quelque puissance Europe'ene ne 
les avoit d^truits. Memoire des Commissaires Francois, du 
Octobre, 1751, en reponse aux Memoires des Commissaires de sa 
Majeste Britannique, des 21 Sept. 1750 et 11 Janvier, 1751.J 

* This should be 1612 ; that being the year of Button's discovery. 

t Whenever I give translations only of French documents, I have not had the ad- 
vantage of perusing the originals. 

$ A distinction ought to be made between the voyages that have been directed to- 
wards the continent of North America, with the design of making plantations and 
establishing colonies, and those which have been undertaken with this view; and 



122 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

In opposition to this we have the following 

Memorial 'presented by His Majesty's Commissaires to the Com- 
missaires of His Most Christian Majesty, in reply to their 
Memorial of the Uh October, 1751, concerning Nova Scotia or 
Acadia. 

" The French Commissaires, in the two first articles of their 
Memorial, have given an historical summary account of the first 
voyages made by the English and French for the discovery and 
settlement of North America, to which, and to the arguments 
drawn from it, it would be sufficient to answer in general, that 
the question now in discussion is not which nation has the right 
to Acadia or Nova Scotia, but what were the ancient limits of that 
country ; that several treaties between the two Crowns have 
long since interposed to determine upon, and indeed annul, any 
claim from the earliest discovery or settlement, and that very lit- 
tle information can be reasonably expected for deciding what were 
the ancient boundaries of this country from the proceedings of 
those who first discovered it, or the relations of their voyages, it 
being well known how indistinctly first discoveries of all coun- 
tries have been made (every pilot or admiral taking possession of 
a vast tract of a country he never saw, upon the pretence of having 
landed in a part of it), and in how very imperfect and suspicious 
a manner the relations of those voyages have come down to us." 
[To correct the mistakes and show that they do not acquiesce 
in the claim of precedency set up by the French Commissaires, 
the English Commissioners consent to enter into this matter, and 
for this purpose only.] "To enter more minutely," they say, "than 
this into the examination of the history contained in these arti- 
cles, would be to depart from the proper subject before us, to assist 
in a certain degree towards changing the real object of the present 

among the latter, those which were confined to simple attempts which proved unpro- 
ductive, with those which have been followed by the formation of solid establishments, 
actually existing, or which would have subsisted -if some European power had not 
destroyed them. — Memoir of the French Commissioners, Oct. 4, 1751, in reply to the 
Memoir 8 of the Commissioners of His Britannic Majesty oj the list Sept. 1750 and the 
11th January, 1751. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 123 

enquiry, and in part to rest the decision of it upon insufficient 
evidence and improper enquiry. 

" As to the distinction, in such national discussions, of rights 
founded upon earliest discovery, was there ever any further en- 
quiry made than which was the earliest discovery ; and such 
discovery once proved, was it ever afterwards examined whether 
it was made accidentally in the course of another undertaking, or 
whether the ships were originally destined for that particular 
design, or if the single object of the voyage was the settling a 
plantation on that particular coast? Surely this way of reasoning 
is entirely new, nor has any nation ever yet suffered a title founded 
upon earliest discovery to be arraigned upon such a subtle but 
groundless distinction. As to the particulars brought in support 
of it, such of them as would be of any weight if they were true, 
are mistakes, and such as are true signify nothing. It would be 
some argument to shew this voyage was the adventure of Cabot, 
not made on the part of Henry VII., if all the ships which sailed 
under Cabot's command had been defrayed at his expense, and 
been his property ; but it appears from the best authority, that 
besides the ships he bought by the King's permission, several 
others accompanied him, fitted out by private merchants, subjects 
of Great Britain, who became parties to the undertaking. It 
would also be a circumstance very favourable to the interpretation 
the French Commissaires put upon this voyage, if Henry VII. had 
not in his Letters Patent inserted a word by which he reserves to 
himself and to his crown, dominion and royalty in all the lands 
which shall be discovered or settled by Cabot ; but it is expressly 
there said, that Cabot and his heirs shall hold all such lands as 
he shall discover and settle, as vassals of the Crown, though the 
immediate profit of the voyage, and various exemptions in holding 
what lands shall be discovered, are granted to Cabot and his heirs 
as rewards for their industry, and a recompense for their expense. 
These two objections, therefore, which if they were well grounded 
would have some weight, are founded upon circumstances which 
are not true." 



124 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

ALLEGED DISCOVERY OF HUDSON'S BAY BY THE DANES. 

"Les Danois pre'tendent que cette Baye ^toit deja de*couverte par 
un homme de leur nation, et qu'on la nomma Ghristiania du nom 
de Christian IV., Roi de Dannemarc. lis dissent que les Danois, 
ayant passe* le Detroit, continuant toujours vers le nord, abord- 
erent enfin la terre ferme a une rivifcre qu'on a nomme'e la Riviere 
Danoise, et que les Sauvages appellent Monoteousiki, qui signifie 
Riviere des Etrangers. . . . , Qu'ils perirent tous durant 
cet hiver."* — Introduction a VHistoire de VAsie, de VAfrique 
et de VAmerique. Par M. Bruzen La Martiniere. T. II., pp. 
409-10. 

The Marquis de Denonville, Feb. 12, 1668, appointed le Sieur 
de Trois (sic) to go in search of the most advantageous posts and 
occupy the shores of the Baie du Nord and the embouchures of 
the rivers that enter therein, " retrancher et fortifier les dits postes, 
de saisir les robeurs, coureurs des bois et autres que nous savons 
avoir pris et arr§te' plusieurs de nos Frangais commergants avec 
les sauvages, lesquels nous lui ordonnons d'arr^ter, nommement 
le dit Radisson et autres ses adherents, en quelque lieu qu'il les 
puisse joindre ; lesquels il nous ame'nera comme deserteurs pour 
etre punis suivant la rigeur des ordonnances."*f- 



* The Danes pretend that this Bay had already been discovered by one of their na- 
tion, to whom the name of Christiania, after Christian IV., King of Denmark, was 
given. They say that the Danes having passed the strait, continued their voyage 
towards the north, and finally reached the mainland at the mouth of the river, which 
they called the Danish river, and which the Indians called Monoteousiki, which signi- 
fies the strangers' river. . . . They all perished during the winter. —Introduction 
a l'Histoire de l'Asie, de l'Afrique et de l'Amerique. Par M. Bruzen La Martiniere. 
T. IL, pp. 409-10. 

t The Marquis de Denonville, Feb. 12, 1668, appointed le Sieur de Trois (sic) to 
go in search of the most advantageous posts, and occupy the shores of the Baie du 
Nord and the embouchures of the rivers that enter therein, to entrench and fortify 
the said posts, to seize the robbers, coureurs des bois and others whom we know to 
have taken and arrested several of our French engaged in the Indian trade, whom 
we order him to arrest, especially the said Radisson and his adherents, wherever 
they may be found, and bring them to be punished 'as deserters, according to the rigour 
of the ordinances. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 125 

Memoir of the King, to serve as instructions to Sieur Talon, 
proceeding to N. France as Intendant of Justice, Police and 
Finance, March 27, 1665 * 

Memoir by M. Talon to M. Colbert, Quebec, Nov. 10, 1670. 

" I learn by the return of the Algonquins, who will winter this year 
near Tadoussac, that two European vessels have been seen very 
near Hudson's Bay, where they wigwam (cabanet), as the Indians 
express it. After reflecting on all the nations that might have 
penetrated as far north as that, I can only light on the English, 
who, under the guidance of a man named Des Grozeliers, formerly 
an inhabitant of Canada, might possibly have attempted that navi- 
gation, of itself not much known and not less dangerous. I intend 
despatching thither, overland, some man of resolution to invite 
the Kilistions, who are in great numbers in the vicinity of the 
Bay, to come down to see us, as the Ottawas do, in order that we 
may have the first pick of what the latter savages bring us, who, 
acting as pedlars between those two nations and us, make us pay 
a roundabout of three or four prices." 

M. TALON TO THE KING. — MEMOIR ON THE STATE OF CANADA. 

Quebec, Nov. 2, 1671. 

" Three months ago I despatched with Father Albonel, a Jesuit, 
Sieur de St. Simon, a young Canadian gentleman recently 
honoured by His Majesty with that title. They were to pene- 
trate as far as Hudson's Bay, draw up a memoir of all they will 
discover, drive a trade in furs with the Indians, and especially 
reconnoitre whether there will be any means of wintering ships 
in that quarter, in order to establish a factory that might, when 
necessary, supply provisions to the vessels that will possibly here- 
after discover, by that channel, the communication between the 
two seas — the north and the south. Since their departure I have 



* O'Callogan in a note says : " Sieur Bourdon . . was sent ten years afterwards 
overland to Hudson's Bay to take possession of the country for France, in 1646." — 
Paris Doc. Vol ix., p. 24. 



126 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

received letters from them three times. The last, brought from 
one hundred leagues from here, informs me that the Indians whom 
they met on the way have assured them that two English 
vessels and three barks have wintered in the neighbourhood of 
the Bay, and made a vast collection of beavers there. If my 
letters, in reply, are safely delivered to the said Father, this esta- 
blishment will be thoroughly examined, and His Majesty will 
have full information about it. As all these countries were long 
ago (anciennement) originally discovered by the French, I have 
commissioned the said Sieur de St. Simon to take renewed pos- 
session, in His Majesty's name, with orders to set up the es- 
cutcheon of France, with which he is intrusted, and to draw up a 
proces- verbal in the form I have furnished him. 

" It is proposed to me to despatch a bark of sixty tons hence to 
Hudson's Bay, whereby it is expected that something will be dis- 
covered of the communication between the two seas. If the ad- 
venturers who form this design subject the King to no expense, I 
shall give them hopes of some mark of honour if they succeed, be- 
sides indemnifying themselves from the fur trade which they will 
carry on with the Indians." . 

jolliet's voyage to Hudson's bay. 

Count de Frontenac, 6th, 8th and 9th Nov., 1679. 

" [I] send the narrative and map of the voyage Sieur Jolliet 
has made to Hudson's Bay, which the farmers of the revenue have 
demanded of him. The relation is dated 27th of October, 1679, 
and signed Jolliet." 

radisson's voyage to Hudson's bay. 

M. de Frontenac, 2nd Nov., 1681. 

" Sieur R-adisson, who is married in England, had returned to 
Canada from the Islands, where he had served under Marshal 
D'Estre'es. He had applied to him for permission to go in a ves- 
sel belonging to Sieur de la Chesnay, to form establishments 
along the coasts leading towards Hudson's Bay." 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 127 

Du Chesneau's Memoir on the Western Indians, 
13*A November, 1681. 

11 They (the English) are still at Hudson's Bay, on the north, 
and do great damage to our fur trade. The farmers (of the re- 
venue) suffer in consequence by the diminution of the trade at 
Tadoussac, and throughout that entire country, because the 
English draw off the Ottawa nations ; for the one and the other 
design, they have two forts on the said Bay — the one towards 
Tadoussac, and the other at Cape Henriette Marie, on the side of 
the Assinibonetz. 

a The sole means to prevent them succeeding in what is pre- 
judicial to us in this regard, would be to drive them by main 
force from that Bay, which belongs to us ; or if there would be 
an objection to coming to that extremity, to construct forts on 
the rivers falling into the lakes, in order to stop the Indians at 
these points. 

" Should the King adopt the resolution to arrange with the 
Duke of York for his possessions in this quarter, in which case 
Boston could not resist, the only fear would be that this country 
might go to ruin, the French being naturally inconstant and fond 
of novelty. 

" But as this could be remedied by rigorous prohibitions, that 
consideration ought not to prevail over the great benefit which 
would accrue, and the great advantages His Majesty and his sub- 
jects must eventually derive from the transaction." 

[It is to be noted that the Indians, as shown above, carried 
their furs immense distances, and the H. B. Co. would have no 
reason to extend into the country.] 

Du Chesneau, Nov. 13, 1681. 

" The Ambassador of the King of England, at Paris, complained 
that the man named Radisson and other Frenchmen having gone 
with two barks, called Le St. Pierre and La Ste. Anne, into 
the river and port of Nelson, in 1682, seized a fort and some pro- 
perty of which the English had been in possession for several 
years. 



128 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

" Radisson and Des Grozelliers maintain that those allegations 
are not true ; but that having found a spot on the River Nelson 
adapted to their trade, they took possession of it in the King's 
name, in the month of August, 1 682, and had commenced build- 
ing a fort and some houses there. 

" That on the 14th September following, having heard can- 
non, they went out to examine, and on the 26th found some 
beginning of houses on an island, and a vessel aground near the 
coast. 

" That these houses had been begun since they entered the 
river and had set about working at their fort and building, and, 
therefore, that they were the first occupants. 

" That, since then, each having wished to maintain his estab- 
lishment, the French were become the masters. 

"That the ice and weather having caused the destruction of an 
English ship, some men belonging to it had died ; but that they 
had, on their part, treated them with great moderation and kind- 
ness, and rendered every assistance to the English, who appeared 
satisfied." 

MOVEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH IN THE NORTH. 

M. delaBarre, Quebec, Nov. 12, 1682. 

" As to what relates to Hudson's Bay, the company in old 
England advanced some small houses along a river which leads 
from Lake Superior. As possession was taken of this country 
several years ago, he will put an end to this disorder, and report 
next year the success of his design." 

LOUIS XIV. TO M. DE LA BARRE. 

Fontainebleau, 5th Aug., 1683. 

" I recommend you to prevent the English, as much as possible, 
from establishing themselves in Hudson's Bay, possession whereof 
was taken in my name several years ago ; and as Col. d'Unguent 
(Dongan), appointed governor of New York by the King of Eng- 






UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 129 

land, has had precise orders on the part of the said King to 
maintain good correspondence with us, and carefully avoid what- 
ever may interrupt it, I doubt not the difficulties you have ex- 
perienced on the side of the English will cease for the future." 

M. DE LA BARRE TO M. SEIGNELAY. 

Quebec, Nov., 1683. 

" The English of Hudson's Bay have this year attracted many 
of our northern Indians, who for this reason have not come to 
trade to Montreal. When they learned by expresses sent to 
them by Du l'Hut, on his arrival at Missililmakinak, that he 
was coming, they sent him word to come quickly and they 
would unite with him to prevent all the others going thither 
any more. If I stop that pass, as I hope and as it is neces- 
sary to do, as the English of that Bay excite against us the 
savages, whom Sieur du l'Hut alone can quiet, I shall enter 
into arrangements with those of New York for the surrender 
to me of any guilty fugitives. They appeared well satisfied 
with me, but were desirous to obtain an order to that effect 
from the Duke of York. I judge from the state of European 
affairs that it is important to manage that nation, and I shall 
assiduously apply myself thereto." 

M. DE LA BARRE TO M. DE SEIGNELAY. 

Quebec, Nov. 4, 1683. 

" A small vessel has just arrived from Hudson's Gulf, two hun- 
dred leagues further north than the Bay. She brings back those 
who were sent there last year by order of Count de Frontenac. 
You will receive herewith an exact map of the place. But divers 
little rencontres have occurred between our Frenchmen and the 
English, of which I send you a particular narration, in order, 
should any complaint be made to the King of England, and he 
speak of it to M. Barillon, the latter may be able to inform him 
of the truth. It is proper that you let me know early whether 



130 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

the King* desires to retain that post, so that it may be done on 
the withdrawal of the French, for which purpose I shall dispose 
matters in order to aid them overland beyond Lake Superior, 
through Sieur du l'Hut, and to send them by sea to bring back 
the merchandize and peltries." 

LE SIEUR DE LA BARRE TO THE KING. 

Quebec, Nov. 13, 1684. 

" It remains for me to request your Majesty's orders in regard 
to the English, as well those of New York as those settled on 
Hudson's Bay. I fear they have attacked the French posts last 
year in "Nelson's Gulf, and that Ratisson (Radisson), who I learn 
is at their head, has opposed force and violence to the justice of 
their cause, of which your Majesty shall be informed. Whether 
I must oppose force to force, and venture by land against those 
who might have committed some outrages against your subjects 
at sea, is a matter on which your Majesty will please furnish me 
with some precise and decisive orders, whereunto I shall conform 
my conduct and actions." 

MY LORD TO M. DE LA BARRE. 

April 10, 1684. 

" It is impossible to imagine what you pretended when, of your 
own authority, without calling on the Intendant and submitting 
the matter to the Sovereign Council, you ordered a vessel to be 
returned to one Guillam which had been captured by Radisson 
and De Groszeliers, and in truth you ought to prevent these sorts 
of proceedings, which are entirely unwarranted, coming under His 
Majesty's eyes. You have herein done what the English will be 
able to make a handle of, since in virtue of your ordinance you 
caused a vessel to be surrendered which ought strictly to be con- 
sidered a pirate, as it had no commission ; and the English will 
not fail to say that you so fully recognized the regularity of this 
ship's papers that you surrendered it to the proprietors, and they 
will thence pretend to conclude that they had taken legitimate 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 131 

possession of the River Nelson before Messrs. Radisson and De 
Groszeliers had been there, which will be very prejudicial to the 
colony." 

M. DENONVILLE TO M. DE SEIGNELAY. 

Ville Marie, August 25, 1687. 

" Du l'Hut's brother, who has recently arrived from the rivers 
above the lake of the Allenemipigons, (nowLake Ste. Anne, north of 
Lake Superior) assures me that he saw more than 1,500 persons 
come to trade with him. They were very sorry that he had not 
sufficient goods to satisfy them. They are of the tribes accus- 
tomed to resort to the English at Port Nelson or River Bourbon, 
where they say they did not go this year, through Sieur du l'Hut's 
influence. It remains to be seen whether they speak the truth. 

" The overland route to them is frightful, on account of its 
length and of the difficulty of finding food. He says there is a 
multitude of people beyond these, and that no trade is to be ex- 
pected with them except by sea, for by the rivers the expense is 
too great. 

" I have just received news from our forts at the head of Hud- 
son's Bay, (du nord) where d'Yberville is in command. He has 
had advices this fall that an English ship was in the nip near 
Charleton Island. He sent four men thither across the ice to re- 
connoitre. One gave up through sickness ; the others were sur- 
prised and taken and bound. One of the latter escaped, though 
fired at several times — he communicated the news — and the other 
two were put, bound, into the bottom of the hold, where they 
passed the winter. The commander of the vessel, hunting on the 
Island in the spring, was drowned. The time being arrived for 
setting sail, the pilot and the others, to the number of six, caused 
the weaker of the Canadians to work, and obliged him to assist 
them. One day whilst most of the English were aloft, the Ca- 
nadian, seeing only two on deck, grasped an axe with which he 
split both their skulls, then ran to release his comrade; fchey 
seized the arms and went on deck, where from being slaves they 



132 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

became masters. They next steered the ship towards our fort, 
and met Sieur d'Yberville on the way, who had fitted out a ves- 
sel to go and release his men at the moment the ice would per- 
mit him. The English ship was laden with merchandize and 
provisions, which have been of great service to our forts." 

MEMOIR OF M. DENONVILLE ON THE STATE OF CANADA. 

Nov. 12, 1685. 

" In regard to Hudson's Bay (du nord), should the King not 
think proper to enforce the reasons His Majesty has for opposing 
the usurpation of the English on his lands, by the just titles 
proving His Majesty's possession of it long before the English 
had any knowledge of said country, nothing is to be done but to 
find the means to support the company of said Bay, formed in 
Canada by the privilege His Majesty has been pleased this year 
to grant his subjects of New France, and to furnish them, for 
some years, a few vessels of one hundred and twenty tons only, 
well armed and equipped. I hope, with this aid, our Canadians 
will support this affair, which, will otherwise perish of itself, 
whilst the English merchants, more powerful than our Canadians, 
will with good ships continue their trade, whereby they will en- 
rich themselves at the expense of the colony and of the King's 
revenue." 

CAPITULATION OF ALBANY FORT. 

Articles agreed upon between the Chevalier de Troyes, Com- 
mander in Chief of the detachment of the North- West, for the 
French Company of Canada, and Henry Sergeant, Esq., Gov- 
ernor, for the English Company of Hudson's Bay, July 16, 
1686. 

It is agreed upon to deliver up the Fort, together with all the 
goods belonging to the said Company, which are to be scheduled for 
the mutual clearing of us, the forenamed, and satisfaction of all 
parties. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDAKIES OF ONTARIO. 133 

II. That all the Company's servants at Albany River shall en- 
joy all wearing apparel belonging to themselves. 

III. That the aforesaid Henry Sergeant, Esq., Governor, shall 
enjoy and possess all that belongs to himself: and that his minis- 
ter, his three men servants and maid servant shall constantly be 
permitted to remain with him and attend him. 

IV. That the Chevalier de Troyes shall convey all the Com- 
pany's servants to Charleton Island, there to expect English ships 
for their transportation ; and if English ships should not arrive, 
then the aforesaid Chevalier de Troyes is to assist them with 
what vessels the country affords, for their conveyance into Eng- 
land. 

V That the said Chevalier de Troyes shall deliver to the said 
Henry Sergeant, Esq., Governor, or to his storehouse keeper, 
such provisions as shall be thought fitting and necessary to carry 
them to England, if no ships come from, thence, and in the mean- 
time give them such sustenance as shall be sufficient for them. 

VI. That all the storehouses shall be locked up, and the keys 
delivered to the said Chevalier de Troyes, Lieutenant, that no- 
thing may be in the said storehouses embezzled, till the account 
be taken, according to the first article. 

Lastly. That the Governor and all the Company's servants at Al- 
bany River shall come out of the Fort and deliver it up to the 
said Chevalier de Troyes, all the men, the Governor and his son 
excepted, being without arms, which is to be forthwith. 

Denonville, 10th October, 1686. 

" Nous avons eprouvd que par les Temiskamins et Abitabis c'est 
un chemin terrible et de si grandes difficultes que tout ce que Ton 
saurait faire est d'y porter suffisamment de vivres pour aller et 
revenir. L'on croit celui de Nemisco par Tadoussac plus traitable ; 
mais en veritd il est aussi fort long et tres penible, outre que la 
navigation des rivieres est si difficile que l'on n'y saurait passer que 
par dessous des arbres couches de travers sur la riviere, qui est 
etroite ; mais cela se peut accommoder avec le terns. Voila, Mon- 
seigneur, les deux seuls chemins pour le fond de la Baie. 



134 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

" On compte 250 lieues de poste de Quichichouanne au port de 
Nelson. Ce chemin n'est pas encore bien connu a, nos Frangois 
par les terres ; l'an prochain ne se passera pas qu'on ne le connaisse; 
il n'est } as praticable pour y porter des marchandises.* 

Marquis De Denonville, 13th October and 16th November, 1686. 

" Affairs are becoming more and more embroiled, and the Eng- 
lish who urge on the Iroquois are but too well aware of their evil 
design. 

" The French coureurs des bois, with 100 men, took from them 
three forts they were occupying in Hudson's Bay. * * 

" The convention concluded with England, that the River Bour- 
bon or Port Nelson shall remain in joint occupation of the two 
crowns, is not advantageous to the French, for the voyages of the 
English are too dangerous on account of their attacking the 
coureurs des bois as much as possible, besides purchasing the beaver 
at a higher rate, and furnishing their goods cheaper than the 
French. In his opinion, it would be more beneficial for the com- 
pany and colony that the French merchants restore the posts at 
the head of the Bay, which they took, and that the French should 
leave Port Nelson or River Bourbon. If this arrangement were 
feasible, the Indians could be thus intercepted by land, for it 
would be useless to attempt to become masters of the upper parts 
of the Rivers Bourbon and Ste. The'rese, inasmuch as it would be 
impossible to prevent the Indians trading with the English. 

" The latter could, by this means, be intercepted by land, and 

* Denonville, October 10, 1686. 

We have experience that, by the Temiskamins and Abitibis, the road is terrible, and 
that all that could be done would be to carry a sufficient supply of provisions for the 
round trip. It is believed that that of Nemisco by Tadoussac is better ; but in truth 
it is long and painful enough : besides the navigation of the rivers is so difficult, that 
it is only possible to pass underneath the trees that lie across the narrow river ; but 
that may be overcome in time. These, Monseigneur, are the only two roads that lead 
to James' Bay (les deux seuls chemins pour le fond de la Baie). 

It is reckoned 250 leagues from the post of Quichichouanne to Port Nelson. The 
overland road is not yet well known to our French ; the next year will not pass with- 
out their becoming acquainted with it ; it is not practicable to carry merchandize 
there. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 135 

we should have an opportunity of discovering an infinitude of 
nations yet unknown, through whom a great many peltries can yet 
be procured, and, possibly, the passage and entrance to the Pacific 
Ocean eventually discovered." 

M. DE DENONVILLE TO M. DE SEIGNELAY. 

February 15, 1690. 

"Our affairs at Hudson's Bay will prosper if the Northern 
Company continue to co-operate with, and second the designs of, 
D' Iberville, one of the sons of the late Le Moyne, whom I left 
resolved to go to Port Nelson, the only remaining port in the pos- 
session of the English. For that purpose it is absolutely neces - 
sary, I believe, that my Lord the Marquis de Seignelay inform 
Monsieur de Lagny that the King intends that the Northern 
Company undertake the capture of that post, and furnish said 
Iberville with everything he requires to render his design success- 
ful. He will want two ships. He has already, at Quebec, one 
that he took this winter from the English. Iu truth, my Lord, it 
would be very advantageous to the King's service had said Iber- 
ville some honourable rank in the navy, in order to excite emula- 
tion in the Canadians who will follow the sea. A commission of 
lieutenant would work miracles. He is a very fine fellow, and very 
capable of rendering himself expert, and doing good service. 

" The Iroquois war continuing, as there is every appearance it 
will, both against us and the Indians, in the direction of the 
Outawas who traffic with us, the greatest part of the trade will be 
diverted towards Port Nelson, on the River Bourbon. What I 
have learned of the facilities possessed by the Indians beyond Lake 
Superior to reach the sea in that direction, very strongly convinces 
me of the necessity we are under to bethink ourselves of driving 
the English from that commerce. But it must be effected without 
fail, for they will get up this year some expeditions against us. 

" The Northern Company require that my Lord should order 
M. de Champigny to attend their meetings sometimes when he 
considers it necessary. I fear some divisions are creeping in there 



136 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

which will bring about its failure. There is no fear that the pre- 
sence of an Intendant like M. de Champigny can be productive of 
any harm." 

FORT NELSON. — LETTRE DE MESSIEURS DE FRONTENAC ET 

CHAMPIGNY, 

On the subject of attacking Fort Nelson, August 7, 1693. 

" Sa Majesty ayant fait savoir par sa ddp^che du 28 Mars 
dernier que son intention dtait que nous fissions partir sans re- 
tardementleSieur Iberville, avec ses vaisseaux Le Poll, V Intendant, 
et celui de la Compagnie du Nord, afin d'aller dans la Baie d'Hud- 
son y faire l'attaque de Fort Nelson, suivant le me'moire particu- 
lier que sa Majesty nous a encore a cet efFet envoy e* et 1' in- 
struction dudit Sr. d'Iberville, Capitaine dudit vaisseau, le Poll, 
nons aurions pour l'execution desdits ordres confe're' avec Mons- 
ieur de Champigny, Intendant en ce pays, et aurions mande* le 
26 Juillet ledit Sr. d'Iberville charge* de ladite expedition du- 
dit Fort de Nelson, et les Sieurs interesse's en la Baie du Nord."* 

MEMOIRE DE LA COMPAGNIE DU NORD. 

15 Nov. 1690. 

Le Compagnie du Commerce du Nord e'tablie a Quebec, avec 
permission et patente de S. M. ? a eu le malheur, apres avoir pris 
possession, audit pays du Nord, de la riche et grand e riviere de 
Bourbon in 1682, d'avoir 6te pille'e en terre en 1683, par les 



* Fort Nelson. — Letter of Messrs. de Frontenac and Champigny on the subject of 
attacking Fort Nelson, Aug. 7, 1693. 

His Majesty having made known to us by his despatch of the 28th March last, that 
it was his intention that we should cause Sieur Iberville to set out without delay, with 
his vessels, the Foli, the Intendant, and that of the Compagnie du Nord, in order to go 
to Hudson's Bay, according to the private memoir which His Majesty has sent us to 
this effect, and the instruction of the said Iberville, captain of the Poli, we have con- 
ferred with Monsieur de Champigny, Intendant of the country, on the execution of the 
said orders, and on the 2Gth of July ordered the said Sieur d'Iberville, charged with the 
said expedition to the said Fort Nelson, and the gentlemen interested in Budson's Bay, 
(la Baie du Nord) to set out on that expedition. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 137 

Anglois, pendant le retour de leur vaisseau a Quebec, qui leur 

prirentunmagasinrempli deplus de 200,000 livres de castor, martre, 

et autr es pelleteries dans le temps qu'il n'y avait point de guerre 

entre les deux nations, ay ant corrompu deux ou trois Francds 

gardiens desdites pelleteries en magasin. 

* * * * 

Ce fut durant ce temps que S. M. accorda au Koi d'Angleterre, 

que les limites des terres seroient regimes par MM. les Commis- 

saires qui furent noinme's de la part des deux Royaumes ; cepend- 

dant defend aux sujets de faire aucun acte d'hostilite' a quoi les- 

dits Anglais refusant d' obeir de leur part, seraient venus sur la fin 

de 1' anne'e 1688, au fond de la Baie du Nord, occupe'e par les 

Francois, hiverner avec trois navires et environ cent hommes d'e'qui- 

page, auroient bati un Fort au Nord de celui desdits Francois. 

[The company asked the assistance of the French Government 

in the emergency.] 

(Signed) Gobin Pachot. 

Charles Albert de la Chene.* 

[The commerce, in a word, could only be carried on by sea ; by 

that means the immense cost of carrying goods by land was saved. 

The fattest beavers and the best furs were at the north. The 

French wanted to exchange the forts on James' Bay for Fort 

* Memorial of the Company of the North, Nov. 15, 1690 : 

The Commercial Company of the North, established at Quebec, by permission and 
patent of His Majesty, has had the misfortune, after having taken possession of the north 
country, and the rich and large river of Bourbon, in 1682, to have been robbed, on 
land, in 1683, by the English, when their vessel had returned to Quebec, by whom were 
taken from their magazine more than 200,000 livres of beaver, martin and other pelt- 
ries, at a time when there was no war between the two nations, and by means of 
bribing two or three Frenchmen in whose charge the peltries in the magazine were. 
* * * * * * 

This occurred at the time when His Majesty had agreed with the King of England 
that the boundaries of their territories should be fixed by Commissaires, to be appointed 
on the part of the two kingdoms; they had howe\ r er forbidden their subjects to commit 
any act of hostility, in which respect the English proved disobedient ; arriving, near 
the end of the year 1688, at the foot of James' Bay, (au fond de la Baie du Nord) occu- 
pied by the French. They wintered there with two vessels and about a hundred men 
belonging to the ships, and built a fort to the north of that of the French. 
[The Company asked the assistance of the French Government in the emergency.] 

(Signed) Gobin Pachot. 

Charles Albert de la Chene. 



138 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Nelson : they could then stop the savages on the borders of Lake 
Alenimipigons, who went to Quichichouanne, at the head of the Bay. 
The company had laid out large sums and had not yet reaped 
any profit. Raddison had caused them a loss of a hundred thousand 
e*cus, besides the profit that would have been made afterwards.] 

A letter to Monseigneur Pontchartrain, " addressee par les mem- 
bres de la Compagnie du Nord du Canada" (without date, but was 
probably written in 1693), says: — 

" L'entreprise du Port Nelson n'a pu se faire en 1691, parceque 
deTunt Monsieur du Tas, arrive' a Quebec le premier jour de 
Juillet, auquel vous aviez ordonne' ce voyage, soutient ici qu'il 
e*tait trop tard de partir pour le Nord. 

" Votre Grandeur, en 1692, a donne' au Sr. d' Iberville, Capitaine 
de Vaisseau de sa Majesty Le Poll, ses ordres pour ledit voyage, 
et la conduite de la fiotte du commerce de ce pays, qui n'est 
arrive' que le 18 Aout, dans laquelle saison, il a e'te' absolument 
impossible de penser a cette entreprise. 

" Pourquoi, Monseigneur, ce seul poste qui reste aux Anglois 
e*tant si utile qu'il fait tout gagner ou tout perdre aux Francais 
dans la grande Baie du Nord, la Compagnie e'tablie a Quebec 
pour ce commerce reclame tout de nouveau la protection de Votre 
Grandeur, afin que vous lui accordiez des forces suffisantes pour se 
rendre maitres dudit Port Nelson que les Anglais ont pris par 
trahison sur ladite compagnie m§me en terns de paix, ce que Ton 
espere, Monseigneur, de la passion que vous avez pour l'agrandis- 
sement du Royaume, et de votre affection pour cette colonic 
" Par vos tres respectueux et tres obe'issants serviteurs, 
(Signe's) " Haryon, " Migeon, 

Thazeur, De Braussac, 

Pachot, Macart, 

Charles Aubert, Le Picart, 
De la Chesnays, Gobin."* 

* A letter from the Compagnie du Nord of Canada (without date, probably written in 
1693), says :- 

" The enterprise of Port Nelson could not be carried out in 1691, because M. du 
Tas, since dead, who arrived at Quebec on the first of July, to whom you had ordered to 
make this voyage, alleged, when here, that it was too late to set out for the north. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 139 

La Compagnie du Nord du Canada a Monseigneur de Pont- 
ckartrain, 1693. 

La grace que votre Grandeur avait accorded a la compagnie du 
Nord de Canada, du vaisseau du Roi, le Poli, n'ayant pu avoir son 
effet, le Sieur d'Iberville, Capitaine dudit vaisseau e'tant arrive' a 
Quebec seulement le 8 Aout, trop tard pour rien entreprendre sur 
les Anglois. 

L'on espere que vous continuerez votre protection, Mgr, en fa- 
veur de cette compagnie qui est ruine'e et souffre beaucoup par la 
ne'cessite' de soutenir la guerre contre la compagnie de Londres, 
qui lui a pris en terns de paix, le Port de Nelson, un des plus con- 
siderable postes de ladite grande Baie, avec plus de 400 mille 
livres d'effets. 

Cette compagnie de Londres compos ee de marchands, seigneurs 
et milords de la premiere quality, estime a si haut prix la Baie et 
son commerce, qu' ayant donne' leurs ordres au Commandant du 
Fort de Neuvesavanne de bruler tous leurs effets si les Frangais 
paraissoient, brulerent effectivement ledit fort et pour plusde trente 
mille dcus de marcbandises a la vue d'un seul navire de la com- 
pagnie en 1690, et auquel fort pour prouver cette estime, ils se 
sont rdtablis des 1' amide suivante, parceque la compagnie de 
Quebec n'a pas 6t6 en dtat de l'occuper. 

" Your Excellency, in 1692, gave Captain Iberville, of His Majesty's vessel, the 
Poli, his orders for this voyage, and the management of the fleet of merchant vessels 
of this country, who did not arrive till the 18th August, at which season it was abso- 
lutely impossible to think of this enterprise. 

" Why, Monseigneur, this single Fort, which remains in possession of the Euglish, is 
of so much importance that the gain or loss of everything in Hudson's Bay depends 
upon it. The company's establishment at Quebec, to carry on this commerce, claims 
anew the protection of your Excellency, that you may give it a sufficient force to en- 
able it to become master of Fort Nelson, which the English took by an act of treason 
against 'this company in a time of peace. This they hope from the strong desire which 
you have for the aggrandizement of the kingdom and from your affection for this colony. 
" By your very respectful and obedient servants, 

(Signed) " Haryon, " Migeon, 

Thazeur, De Braussac, 

Pachot, Macart, 

Charles Adbert, Le Picart, 
De la Chesnays, Gobin." 



140 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

On ne peut done assez vanter cette grande Baie par rapport 
au grand commerce qui s'y fait deja ; et qui s'y peut etablir sur 
les bords de la mer, dans la profondeur des terres, et pour les 
nouvelles de'eonvertes. 

La compagnie y tiendrait tout, si elle pouvait se saiser du Port 
Nelson ; cependant les frais de la guerre soutenue contre les 
Anglais l'a beaucoup affaiblie ; ce qui 1'oMige de recourir a votre 
Grandeur, afin d'obtenir des forces suffisantes, et en terns conven- 
able, pour en chasser les Anglais. 

Par vos tr&s respect ueux et tr&s obe'issants serviteurs, 
(Signed) Rouer de Villeray, 

pour Messieurs de UAncienne Compagnie, 
F. Razeur, 
Macart, 
Le Picart, 
Pachot, 
Benace, 

pr. MM. Gatigrwn et Duprat, 
Gobin, 
Fauvel.* 



* The Compagnie du Nord of Canada to Monsieur de Pontchartrain, 1693. 

The favour which your Excellency granted to the Compagnie du Nord of Canada of 
the King's vessel, the Poli, did not produce the effect intended, owing to Captain Iber- 
ville having arrived at Quebec only on the 8th August ; too late to undertake anything 
against the English. 

It is hoped that you will continue your protection, Monseigneur, in favour of this 
company, which is ruined and suffers greatly from the necessity of carrying on the war 
against the London company, by whom, in a time of peace, Port Nelson, one of the 
most considerable on the great Bay, was taken from them, with 400,000 livres of effects. 

This London company, composed of merchants and noblemen of first quality, esti- 
mate at so high a price the commerce of the Bay that they had given orders to the 
Commander of the Fort to burn all their effects if the French made their appearance. 
At the sight of a single vessel of the company, in 1690, the\ effectively burnt the fort 
and over 30,000 <Scus worth of merchandize, which fort, to show this esteem, they re- 
built the next year, because the Company of Quebec was not in a condition to occupy it. 

It is difficult to speak in terms of deserved eulogy of this great Bay in respect to the 
commerce which has already been carried on there, and which might be established on 
the sea coast and in the interior, and as a basis of new discoveries. 

The Company could hold everything there if it could seize Port Nelson ; but the ex- 
pense of the war sustained against England has greatly weakened it, and obliged it to 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 141 

CAPITULATION OF FORT YORK. 

Articles de capitulation entre Guillaume Allen, Commandant en 
Chef dans le Riviere Hays, ou Ste. Therese, et le Sieur G. 
de la Forest, Commandant du Fort York ou Bourbon, le 31 
d'A oii*,1696. 

Je consens de vous rendre mon fort sur les conditions suivantes : 

1. Que moi et tous mes gens, tant Frangais que sauvages, et 
un Anglais que est mon domestique, aurons tous la vie sauve, et 
la liberte*, sans qu'il nous soit fait aucun tort ou violence, soit en 
nos personnes ou en ce qui nous appartient. 

2. Nous sortirons du fort avec nos armes, tambour battant, meche 
allume'e, balle en bouche, enseignes deploye'es et emporterons 
avec nous les deux canons que nous avons apporte's de France. 

3. Nous serons transported tous ensemble, en votre propre 
vaisseau, a Plaisance qui est un fort Frangais de Terreneuve. 
Nous ne voulons point rendre le fort jusqu'a ce q'on nous em- 
barque et nous aurous le pavilion Frangais arbore* dans le fort 
jusqu'a ce que nous en sortions. 

4. Si nous rencontrons de nos vaisseaux, il y aura tr£ve entre 
vous et eux, et il sera permis de nous transporter avec tout ce qui 
nous appartient. 

have recourse to your Excellency, to obtain sufficient force, and in a suitable time to 
drive out the English. 

By your very respectful and very obedient servants, 
(Signed) Rouer de Villerat, 

For the Ancient Company, 
F. Razeur, 
Macart, 
Le Picart, 
Pachot, 
Benace, 

For MM. Catigvon and Duprat, 
G-obin, 
Fauvel. 
[" War breaking out between the two nations, the Hudson's Bay Company solicited 
for soldiers to be sent thither to recover their settlements ; and in the year 1693 they 
retook all the forts and factories which the French had taken from them in time of 
peace. "—Oldmixon. ] 



142 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

5. Nous emporterons avec nous tous les castors et autres mar- 
chandises que nous avons traitds cette anne'e, qui seront embar- 
que*s avec nous sur nos vaisseaux. 

6. Tous mes gens emporteront leurs hardes et tout ce qui leur 
appartient, sans qu'ill soient visite's ni pillds de quoi ce soit. 

7. Pendant le voyage en cas de maladie, vous nous fournirez 
tous les remedes et medicaments dont nous aurons besoin. 

8. Les deux Frangais, qui doivent revenir avec les Indiens 
seront regus dans le fort a leur retour ou ils seront traite*s comme 
les Anglois, et transported en Europe la meme anne'e, ou il leur 
sera fourni toutes choses necessaires pour les rendre 2L la Rochelle. 

Nous aurons le libre exercise de notre religion et il sera permis 
au pere Jesuite, notre missionaire, de faire publicment les fonc- 
tions de son minis tere.* 



* Articles of capitulation between William Allen, Commandant in Chief at Hays or Ste. 
Tnerese River, and Sieur G. de la Forest, Commandant of Fort York or Bourbon, 
August 31, 1696. 

I consent to give up to you my fort on the following conditions : 

1. That I and all my men, French as well as Indians, and my English servant, shall 
have our lives and liberty granted to us, and that no wrong or violence shall be exer- 
cised upon us or whatever belongs to us. 

2. We shall march out of the Fort, with our arms, to the beat of the drum, match 
lighted, ball in mouth, the ensigns of our employments, and carry with us the two 
cannon which we brought from France. 

3. We shall be transported all together, in our own vessel, to Plaisance, a French 
port in Newfoundland. We do not wish to give up the Fort till we have embarked, 
and we shall keep the French flag over the Fort till we march out. 

4. If we meet with our vessels, there shall be a truce between us, and it shall be per- 
mitted to transport us with whatever belongs to us. 

5. We shall take with us all the beaver skins and other merchandize obtained in 
trade this year, which shall be embarked with us upon our vessels. 

6. All my men shall embark their clothes and whatever belongs to them without 
being subject to visitation or robbed of anything. 

7. In case of sickness during the voyage, you shall furnish us with all the remedies 
and medicines which we shall require. 

8. The two Frenchmen who ought to return with the Indians shall be received in 
the Fort on their return, where they shall be treated the same as the English, and sent 
to Europe during the same year, where they shall be furnished with everything neces- 
sary to take them to Rochelle. 

We shall have the free exercise of our religion, and the Jesuit priest, our missionary, 
shall publicly perform the functions of his ministiy. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 14$ 

LA COMPAGNIE DU NORD. 

(Lettre de MM. de Vaudrewil et de Beauharnois sur les affaires 
generates de la colonie. 19 Septembre, 1705.) 

La Cornpagnie de ce pays n'est point en e*tat d/envoyer, l'anne*e 
qui vient, un vaisseau a la Baie d'Hudson pour y porter les vivres 
qu'il faut pour la garnison qui y est et pour en rapporter le castor 
et les autres pelleteries qui y ont 6t6 traite'es, et y porter de 
nouvelles marchandises ; et comme les armemens qui se font en ce 
pays coutent des sommes immenses et que ce poste est aussi mieux 
a porte'e d'etre expliote' de France que dans ce pays, nous vous 
supplions, Monseigneur, de vouloir bien y envoyer un vaisseau ; 
car, sans ce secours, la garnison pe'rirait faute de vivres ; vous avez, 
Monseigneur, la Sieur de Grandville, garde marine, qui a deja fait 
ce voyage * 

THE BOUNDARIES TO BE SETTLED. 

In the letter of 26th October, 1719, (de MM. de Vaudreuil et 
Begon) the writers say : " lis ont appris avec joie que Sa Majeste* 
donne ordre a son ambassadeur en Angleterre de proposer et de 
nommer des commissaires de part et d'autre pour re'gler les limites 
de la Nouvelle France. Ce qui parait fort ne"cessaire parce que les 
Anglais, profitant des managements que les Francais et les 
sauvages ont pour eux en temps de paix, s'e'tablissent au bas de la 
riviere de Naurantsonak, ou ils sont au nombre de 500 hommes 
ce qui fait assez connaitre le dessein qu'ils ont de se mettre en 
e*tat de s'y mantenir en cas de guerre et meme d'y chasser les 
sauvages de cette mission, f 

* The Cornpagnie du Nord is not in a condition to send next year a vessel to Hud- 
son's Bay with necessary provisions for the garrison, and to bring back beaver skins 
and other furs which have been obtained in trade, and to take there new merchandize ; 
and as the armaments raised in this country cost immense sums, and as this post is in 
a better position to be conducted from France than this country, we pray, Monseigneur, 
to send a vessel there ; for without such assistance the garrison will perish for lack of 
provisions : Sieur de Grandville, Keeper of Marine, has already made this voyage. 

+ They [the Canadians] have learnt with joy that his Majesty has given orders to his 
ambassador in England to propose and to name commissioners, on both sides, to settle 
the limits of New France. This appears to be very necessary to be done, as the 



144 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

RELATIVE VALUE OF NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN FURS. 

Les pelleteries du nord sont sans contre'dit les plus belles qui 
soutiennent toujours leur prix et ne sont jamais a charge, l'em- 
pressement du Sr. Nubert et Cie pour les avoir en est une 
preuve incontestable ; d'ailleurs une canote'e de ces sortes de 
pelleteries produit plus d'argent que 6 canote'es de celles du sud et 
ne coutent pas d'avantage." — Memoire pour le retablissement du 
commerce du Canada, par Delino; addresse aw Comte de Pont- 
chartrain, Ministre et Secretaire d'Etat, Contrdleur-G6n4ral de 
la Marine, Octobre 25, 1710.* 

M. DE BEAUHARNOIS TO COUNT DE MAUREPAS. 

October 8, 1744. 

"In regard to the posts on Hudson's Bay and those they [the 
English] have established on this side, in the direction of Temis- 
caming, and which His Majesty has been pleased to recommend 
me to endeavour to neutralize, or to utterly destroy if possible : I 
have accordingly instructed Sieur Guillet, who farms the post of 
Temiscaming, and has gained the good opinion of all the nations 
thereabouts, to prevail on them to assemble together, in the course 
of this winter, in order to fall, at the opening of the spring, as well 
on Fort Rupert as on the other posts in the direction of Hudson's 
Bay. I have in like manner, on receiving the news of the war, sent 
orders to Missilimakinac, to be transmitted to Alepimegon and other 
posts in that neighbourhood, so that they may all co-operate in the 
destruction of the English establishments at the north, and among 

English exercise influence upon the French and the Indians in time of peace, to 
establish themselves on the river Naurontsonak, where they number 500 men ; showing 
a design to maintain themselves there in case of war, and even to drive away the 
Indians from this mission. 

* The furs of the north are beyond question the finest ; they always maintain their 
price and never occasion a loss, as the strong desire manifested by Aubert & Co. to 
procure them incontestibly proves. Besides, a canoe-load of this kind of furs brings 
more money than six canoe-loads of southern furs, and does not cost any more. — Memoir 
for the re-establishment of the commerce of Canada, by Delino; addressed to Count de 
Pontchartrairx, Minister and Secretary of State, Comptroller-General of the Marine, 
October 25, 1710. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 145 

the rest, of that newly built, about twenty leagues above Michipi- 
coton, by a Canadian refugee, who conducted thither seven or 
eight Englishmen who trade there ; and I have ordered not only 
the forcible destruction of that establishment, but also that the 
Canadian be killed, if it be possible to seize him. I have also 
given Sieur Guillet notice that I should, at the very opening of 
spring, despatch a party of Frenchmen and Indians, under the 
command of an officer and some others, to make a simultaneous 
attack on these posts. Sieur Guillet is to warn those Indians of 
this expedition, in order that they may hold themselves in readi- 
ness to join it, and, in fact, I calculate on sending it as soon as the 
season will permit, and I beg you, my Lord, to assure His Majesty 
that I will not neglect anything to utterly destroy, if possible, 
the English establishments in that quarter, as well as all those 
the difficulties whereof I shall be able to surmount." 

M. DE BEAUHARNOIS TO COUNT DE MAUREPAS. 

Montreal, June 18, 1745. 

" I am on my guard and merely on the defensive, not being able 
to act offensively, as I had the honour to inform you, either against 
New England or the posts on Hudson's Bay, in consequence of the 
want in the King's stores, and even in those of the merchants, of 
the supplies necessary for such expeditions, a circumstance I was 
not informed of last autumn. Besides, the preservation of our 
possessions and forts being my principal object, I considered it 
more prudent not to divest ourselves of our small means of resist- 
ance in case of attack, and to suspend the other projects until I be 
in a condition to execute them." 

RIVAL CLAIMS OF THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH. 

Pretensions reciproques des Francais et des Anglais sur les 

Colonies. Pays pris par les Anglais pendant la paix : Le Fort 

Bourbon dans la Baie d' Hudson, les Francais les en chasserent en 

1695 ; les Anglais les 1' ont repris en 1696. Partie k rendre par 

les Anglais. 

10 



146 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Pris par les Frangais pendant la paix : les 2 forts du sud de la 
Baie d 'Hudson ; les Anglais s'en sont re*mis en possession pendant 
la guerre.* — Correspondance oficielle relative an Gouvernement 
du Canada, 3me SeVie, I. Archives de Paris. 



THE ENGLISH SIDE FROM THE HUDSON BAY CO.'S 
POINT OF VIEW. 

[The following account of discoveries and national rivalries, 
in and around Hudson's Bay, is abridged from Oldmixon's British 
Empire in America. Though tinctured with national prejudice, 
and always proceeding on the assumption that the English alone 
had any rights in that quarter, as if the Treaties of Neutrality and 
Ryswick never had an existence, it will assist the enquirer in 
forming some opinion on the state of things out of which grew 
the series of treaties which have still a practical interest.] f 

In the year 1576, Cap. Martin Frobisher made his first voyage 
for the discovery of a passage to China and Cathay by the north- 
west; and on the 12th of June he discover'd Tierra de Labrador 
in 63 degrees 8 minutes, and enter'd a^Streight which he call'd by 
his name. On the 1st of October he return'd to England. In 
the following year, he went a second time on the same discovery, 
came to the same Streight, and us'd all possible means to bring the 
natives to trade, or give him some account of themselves ; but they 
were so wild, that they only study'd to destroy the English. Cap. 
Frobisher stay'd here till winter drew on, and then he return'd 
to England. He made the same voyage the following year, and 
with the like success. 

Six years afterwards, A.D. 1585, John David sail'd from Dart- 
mouth on the same adventure, came into the latitude of 64 degrees 
15 minutes, and proceeded to 66 degrees 40 minutes. In the year 
ensuing, he ran to 66 degrees 20 minutes, and coasted southward 



* A translation of the above will be found in the preceding Report. 
+ It may be regarded as semi-official, having been chiefly compiled and much of the 
materials being derived fiom the Hudson's Bay Company. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 147 

again to 56 degrees. Sailing thence in 54 degrees, he found an 
open sea, tending westward, which he hoped might be the passage 
so long sought for ; but the weather proving tempestuous, he re- 
turn'd to England. In October, the next year, he did the same. 
After which there were no more adventures this way, till the year 
1607, when Cap. Henry Hudson discover'd as far as 80 degrees 
23 minutes. In 160S, he set out again ; and, having added little 
to his former discoveries, return'd. Two years after he again un- 
dertook a voyage to find out the north-west passage, proceeded 
100 leagues further than any man had done before him, till he 
could not go forward for ice and shoal water ; and finding himself 
imbay'd, he resolv'd to winter there. In the spring of 1611, pur- 
suing a further discovery, he and seven more of his company were 
seiz'd, the rest of his men put into an open boat, and committed 
to the mercy of the waves and savages. 

We know 'tis pretended, that a Dane made the discovery of 
this Streight, and that he call'd it Christiana, from the King of 
Denmark, Christiern the IVth, then reigning. But Cap. Hudson 
was the man who discovered it to the English, and who indeed 
first sail'd so near the bottom of the Bay, as he did -within a 
degree or two. 

The same year that he dy'd, Sir Thomas Button, at the insti- 
gation of Prince Henry,* pursu'd the same discovery. He pass'd 
Hudson's Streights, and leaving Hudson's Bay to the south, settled 
above 200 leagues to the south-west, and discover'd a great con- 
tinent, by him called New Wale3. He winter'd at the place after- 
wards call'd Port Nelson, carefully search'd all the bay, from him 
call'd Button's Bay, and return'd to Digg's Island. 

In 1516, Mr. Bafiin enter'd Sir Thomas Smith's Bay, in 78 de- 
grees, and return'd despairing to find any passage that way. All 
the adventures made to the north-west, were in hopes of passing 
to China. In 1631, Capt. James sail'd to the north-west, and ar- 
rived at Charlton Island, where he winter'd in 52 degrees. Cap. 



The expense of the expedition was certainly borne by merchant adventurers of 
London, 



148 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Fox went out tMs year on the same account, but proceeded no 
further than Port Nelson. 

The civil wars in England put discoveries out of men's heads ; 
and we hear of no more such adventures till the year 1667, when 
Zachariah Gillam, in the Nonsuch Ketch, pass'd thro' Hudson's 
Streights, and then into Baffin's Bay to 75 degrees ; and thence 
southward into 51 degrees; where in a river, afterwards call'd 
Prince Rupert's River, he had a friendly correspondence with the 
natives, built a fort, nam'd it Charles Fort, and return'd with 
success. 

The occasion of Gillam's going was this : Monsieur Radison and 
Monsieur Gooselier [de Groisselier], two Frenchmen, meeting with 
some savages in the Lake of Assimponals, in Canada, they learnt 
of them that they might go by land to the bottom of the Bay, 
where the English had not yet been.* Upon which they desir'd 
them to conduct them thither, and the savages accordingly did it. 
The two Frenchmen return'd to the upper lake the same way 
they came, and thence to Quebec, the capital of Canada ; where 
they offer'd the principal merchants to carry ships to Hudson's 
Bay, but their project was rejected. Thence they went to France, 
in hopes of a more favourable hearing at court ; but, after pre- 
senting several memorials, and spending a great deal of time and 
money, they were answer' d as they had been at Quebec, and their 
project look'd upon as chimerical. The King of England's 
ambassador at Paris, hearing what proposals they had made, 
imagin'd he should do his country good service in engaging them 
to serve the English, who had already pretences to the Bay, per- 
s waded them to go for London, where they met with a favourable 
reception from some men of quality, merchants and others, who 
employ 'd Gillam, before-mention'd, a New England captain, in 
the voyage ; and Radison and Gooselier accompanying, they ar- 
riv'd at the bottom of the Bay, and succeeded as we have hinted 
already. 

* This is an admission that Frenchmen had been overland to Hudson's Bay before 
the Hudson's Bay Company was formed ; and that their knowledge was utilized in 
the adventure that led to the formation of that company. 



. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 149 

When Gillam return'd, the adventurers concern' d in fitting 
him out apply' d themselves to King Charles II. for a pattent ; 
who granted one to them and their successors, for the bay call'd 
Hudson's Bay, and the streights call'd Hudson's Streights. The 
pattent bears date the 2nd of May, in the 22nd year of that king's 
reign, A.D. 1670. 

On the west side of the Bay, the English made a settlement, 
and built a fort at Port Nelson. The Bay here is call'd Button's ; 
and Hudson's Bay is broadest in this place. The two opposite 
shores are call'd the East Main and West Main. The former 
is Labrador, and the latter New South Wales. The continent at 
the bottom of the Bay is by the French pretended to be part of 
New France ; and indeed to cross the country from St. Margaret's 
River, which runs into the River of Canada, to Rupert's River, at 
the bottom of Hudson's Bay, is not above 150 miles.* At 
Rupert's River, the English built their first fort, which they call 
Charles Fort. 

In the year 1670 the Company sent off Charles Baily, Esq., 
Governour, with whom went Mr. Radison and 10 or 20 men, who 
were to stay on the place ; his residence being at Rupert River, 
where a mean fort has been built. Mr. Baily appointed Mr. 
Thomas Gorst to be his secretary, and order'd him to keep a 
journal of their proceedings there, which is now in my custody .-f* 

The English had now worse hutts than afterwards, and no 
covering for them but moose skins. There was at this time a 
factory at Port Nelson, where Captain Gooselier arrived in 
August, 1673. He search'd the river for Indians, but met with 
none. He saw several wigwams, where they had lately been, and 
suppos'd them to be gone up the country. This captain was 
order'd to search for Severn River, but could not find it, tho' 
'twas in the old draughts of this Bay. 

Now Mr. Baily and his little colony fell to patching up their 
cabbins, and prepare for the enemy. The 23rd of October several 

* Their claim was surely as good as that of the English ; one nation having pushed 
its discoveries in one direction, and the other in another, to the same point. 

+ This proves that the author relied on the Company for much of his information. 



150 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Indians came to the Fort to trade, and among others one from 
Quebec. 

Several Indians came in March, and built their wigwams at 
the east-end of the Fort, intending to stay there all winter, that 
they might be ready for trade in the spring. About the 20th of 
March it began to thaw ; and the Nod way es still threatening the 
English with war, the Governour prepar'd every thing necessary 
in the Fort for his defence. On the 25th of March, six men, as 
Ambassadors, came from King Cuscudidah, to notify his ap- 
proach, and that he would be at the Fort next day, which he 
made good, and was troubled that the Governour was absent. He 
brought a retinue with him, but little beaver, the Indians having 
sent their best to Canada.* 

The English at the Fort stood on their guard, and Mr. Cole 
commanded them in the Governour's absence ; for whom the 
King sent two Indians. And the 31st of March, the Governour 
return'd, with a small supply of moose flesh. 
,-JAll this while the Indian King stay'd at the wigwams, near 
the Fort ; and the reason of it was, . they were apprehensive of 
being attack'd by some Indians, whom the French Jesuits had 
animated against the English,-f and all that dealt with them. 
The French us'd many artifices to hinder the natives trading 
with the English ; they gave them great rates for their goods, and 
oblig'd Mr. Baily to lower the prices of his, to oblige the Indians 
who dwelt about Moose River, with whom they drove the greatest 
trade. 

The French, to ruin their commerce with the natives, came 
and made a settlement, not above 8 days' journey up that river, 
from the place where the English traded. 'Twas therefore de- 
bated, whether the Company's agents should not remove from 
Rupert's to Moose River, to prevent their traffick being intercepted 
by the French. 

* This proves that when the Hudson's Bay Company first established itself on the 
shores of the Bay, the Indians there already had a trading connection with Canada. 

+ There must then, if this representation be true, have been French missionaries 
here already. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 151 

On the 3rd of April, 1674, a council of the principal persons 
in the Fort was held, where Mr. Baily, the Governour, Capt. 
Gooselier, and Capt. Cole, were present, and gave their several 
opinions. The Governour inclin'd to remove.* Capt. Cole was 
against it, as dangerous ; and Capt. Gooselier for going thither in 
their bark to trade, when the Indians belonging to King Cuscu- 
didah were gone a hunting, and there was no fear of the Fort's 
being surpriz'd. 

The Indians went to building their wigwams near the Fort, 
and rais' d their Wauscoheigein, or fort, so near the English, that 
the palisadoes join'd. On the 20th of May, 12 Indians, subjects 
to King Cuscudidah, came in seven canoos, and the King meeting 
them, conducted them to the Fort, where they told him there 
would be few or no Upland Indians come to trade that season, the 
French having perswaded them to come to Canada. However Mr. 
Baily order'd the sloop to be got ready, and resolv'd to go up the 
river. 

Upon the arrival of this new company, among whom was the 
Bang's brother, a feast was made. 

The next day (May 23), the Governour, and some English and 
Indians arm'd, went down to the bottom of the bay, to French- 
men's River, to seek for the Nodways, but could meet with none. 
On the 27th of May, about 50 men, women and children, came in 
22 canoos, to trade, but brought little or no beaver with them. 
They were of the nation called Pishhapocanoes, near a-kin to the 
Eskeimoes, and both alike a poor beggarly people : by which we 
may perceive the French ran away with the best of the trade. 

The Governour having got everything ready for a voyage to 
Moose River, sent Capt. Gooselier, Capt. Cole, Mr. Gorst, my au- 
thor, and other English Indians, to trade there. They got about 
250 skins ; and the captain of the Tahittee Indians informed them, 
the French Jesuits had not brib'd the Indians, not to deal with 
the English, but to live in friendship with the Indian nations in 
league with the French. He blam'd the English for trading with 

* This affords proof that in 1674 the trade of the south-western side of St. James's 
Bay was in the hands of the French. 



152 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES Ob' ONTARIO. 

such pitiful nations as the Cuscudidahs and Pishhapocanoes, ad- 
vising them to settle at Moose Sebee, and the Upland Indians 
would come down and trade with them. The reason they got no 
more peltry now, was, because the Indians thought Gooselier was 
too hard for them, and few would come down to deal with him.* 

Mr. Baily sail'd himself for Moose Seebee, and brought home 
1500 skins ; the Shechitta warns, 50 leagues from that river, having 
come to trade with him. By the 24th of June all the Indians had 
left their wigwams near the fort, and were gone abroad to hunt 
and trade, some with the English, and some by themselves. 

The Governour undertook a voyage to discover Shechitta warn 
River ; and thence intended to coast along to Port Nelson, where 
as yet was no Fort. In the meantime Mr. Gorst, who was left 
deputy at the fort, sent a yaul, and four men well arm'd, up the 
Nodways "River, which, as high as they could go for the Falls, was 
5 miles broad. After about 2 months' voyage, Mr. Baily returned, 
and gave this account of his voyage in the sloop. On the 16th of 
July he sail'd from Moose River, and arriv'd at Schettawam River 
on the 18th, where no Englishman had been before.| He stayed 
there till the 2 1st, but could meet with little or no beaver. 

'Tis a fine river, and a good channel to the N. W. in 52 degrees , 
N. L. He treated with the King, and his son made them a pro- 
mise to come with a ship and trade with them the next year. In 
return, they assured him they would provide store of beaver, and 
bring the Upland Indians down.j 

On the 27th of July, the sloop ran upon ice, and had like to 
have founder'd. 

After he had returned to the fort, on the 30th of August, a ca- 
noo arriv'd at Rupert's River, with a missionary Jesuit, a French- 
man, born of English parents, attended by one of Cuscudidah's 
family, a young Indian. The Frier brought a letter to Mr. Baily 



* That is, they found a better market with the French. 

f The same as Quichichouanne. , 

% The whole idea of the English seemed to be to bring the Indians to their quarters, 
not to go after them ; which, indeed, for want of expert canoe-men, they were unable 
to do. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 153 

from the Governour of Quebec, dated the 8th of October, 1673. 
For the priest should have been at Rupert's River several months 
before, but that he was stop'd by the Indians. The Governour of 
Quebec desir'd Mr. Baily to treat the Jesuit civilly, on account 
of the great amity between the two crowns ; and Mr. Baily re- 
solv'd to keep the Jesuit till ships came from England. 

The Tabittee Indians being within the Hudson's Bay Company's 
Pattent, 'twas an encroachment for the French to trade with them; 
the Jesuit confess'd they did it.* Mr. Baily cloath'd him, the 
Indians having rob'd him ; and entertain'd him with great kind- 
ness. The Priest resolving to return to Europe in an English 
ship, did not like another journey of 400 miles length, thro' many 
barbarous nations, over land, and a country almost impassable. 

The English were frequently allarm'd with reports of incur- 
sions from the Nod ways and Moose River Indians, whose quarrel 
with him was their selling too dear. 

In the evening, Sept. 24, the sloop appear'd in the river, but 
having no ensign out, they concluded they were all lost men ; and 
in this extremity of sorrow, they were soon reviv'd by the sight 
of 5 Englishmen, whom they had not seen before, and from whom 
they understood, the Prince Rupert, Capt, Gillam, commander, 
was arriv'd, with the new Governour, William Lyddal, Esq. 

The next day the old Governour, and Mr. Gorst, sail'd for 
Point Comfort, where the Shaftsbury, Capt. Shepherd, commander, 
arriv'd also from England. And ;the new Governour 's commis- 
sion and instructions being read, all hands set to work, to refit 
and load the ships home as soon as possible. 

On the 18th of September, Mr. Lyddal landed, and took pos- 
session of the fort. Mr. Baily deliver'd him the pattent. Mr. 
Lyddal finding the season would be so far spent, before the ships 
could be unloaden and loaden again, that it would be impracti- 
cable to return ; after several councils, 'twas resolv'd, they should 
winter at Rupert's River ; and Capt. Gillam, and Capt. She pherd's 



* It is quite certain the French did not admit they were guilty of encroaching on 
territory belonging to the English. Nothing was settled. 



154 UNTITLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

ships' crews were employ 'd to cut timber, to build houses for them, 
as also a brew-house and bake-house in the Fort. 

Mr. Baily, who had very well discharged his trust, returning 
to England, inform'd the Company fully of their affairs ; and 
now as they advanc'd in reputation, so they were industrious to 
increase their trade and settlements. They appointed a trader to 
act under the Governour and chiefs of the factories at other rivers, 
according as they were settled. 

Port Nelson was the next settlement which they made, and 
thither they sent John Bridger, Esq., with the character of Gov- 
ernour for the Hudson's Bay Company of the West Main, from 
Cape Henrietta Maria, which was included in the Governour of 
the East Main's patent. 

■ Mr. Lyddal was succeeded by John Nixon, Esq., in whose time 
the Company thought of removing their chief factory from Ru- 
pert's River to Chickwan River, as the place most resorted to by 
the Indians. Charlton Island was now frequented by the ships 
bound to Hudson's Bay, and made the place of rendezvous for all 
the factors to bring their merchandize to, and load it there aboard 
the Company's ship. 

In the year 1682, Mr. Bridger embark'd for Port Nelson, 
where a factory was to be establish'd and a fort built, but be- 
fore he arriv'd, Cap. Benjamin Gillam, master of a New Eng- 
land ship, and son of Cap. Gillam, commander of the Prince 
Rupert, then in the Company's service, settled at that factory, 
but had not been there above 14 days before Mr. Raddison 
and Cap. Gooselier, who deserted the English, arriv'd from 
Canada. 

The Company having dismiss'd them their service, these 
two Frenchmen in revenge procured some merchants of Canada 
to undertake a settlement there. Gillam was not strong enough 
to repel them, but he remain'd at Port Nelson; where 10 days 
after Raddison and Gooselier's arrival, came Mr. Bridger. The 
French no sooner perceiv'd he was come, but they sent aboard 
his ship immediately, and commanded him to be gone, for that 
Mr. Raddison and Cap. Gooselier had taken possession of the 
place for the French King, their master. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 155 

Mr. Bridger, being warranted so to do by the Company's 
commission, unloaded some of his goods, and with all hands 
went to work in order to make a settlement. Raddison con- 
tinued at Port Nelson, and Mr. Bridger and he became very 
intimate, which intimacy lasted from October, 1682, to the Feb- 
ruary following, when Raddison seized Bridger and Gillam, with 
all their people and effects. 

Having kept them some months in a sort of imprisonment, 
about August the French put several of the Company's and Gil- 
lam's people aboard a rotten bark, and they were taken up by an 
English ship near Cape Henrietta Maria. Bridger and Gillam 
they carry 'd with them to Canada, where Raddison and Gooselier 
ran some of their cargo ashoar, intending to defraud their em- 
ployers. After which they made their escape, and got into 
France. The Company, having notice of it, writ to him, and he 
to the Company, promising, if they would forgive the injury he 
had done them, and employ him again at such a sallary, he would 
undertake to deliver the French, whom he had left there till he 
came again, to them, and seize all the furrs they had traded for, 
which would make them satisfaction for the wrongs he had done 
them. Accordingly they forgave him and employ 'd him again, 
and he took Port Nelson from his countrymen. But before his 
arrival Cap. John Abraham had been there with supplies of 
stores ; and finding Mr. Bridger was gone, he stay'd himself and 
was continued Governor by the Company, in 1684. 

In the preceding year, Mr. Nixon, Governour of Rupert's River, 
was recall'd, and Henry Sergeant, Esq. made Governour. By 
whose instructions we find the chief factory was remov'd from Ru- 
pert's to Moose-sebee, or Chickewan River which has ever since 
been call'd Albany River ; where a fort was built, a factory set- 
tled, and the Governour made it the place of his residence. 
Tis the bottom of the Bay, below Rupert's River.* 

He was order'd to come every spring, as soon as the trade was 
over, to Charlton Island and bring what goods he had with him, 

* This is evidently the first time the English got a footing on the South-west side of 
James' Bay. 



156 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

to wait for the arrival of the Company's ships. From thence he 
was to visit the other factories, and see that their merchandize 
was sent in due time to Charlton Island, to attend the ship's ar- 
rival. 

The Governour of Canada, having given the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany to understand the French were very much offended at their 
discoveries * in these parts, Mr. Sergeant was ordered to be careful 
that he was not surpriz'd by them. 

There is an island in the bottom of the Bay called Hayes Island, 
where a factory had been settled. This isle and Rupert's River 
were near the French, Albany being more to the southward ; and 
of these factories the company were most apprehensive that their 
enemies would endeavour to dispossess them. 

The Company intended to plant a colony at Charlton Island, and 
order'd Mr. Sergeant to build a fort there, and always keep some 
men upon it. Warehouses were also built to receive the furs 
that were brought thither from the factories, and conveniences 
were made for the reception of such as were obliged to winter 
there. 

Orders were also given to dismiss Cap. Gillam from their ser- 
vice for his son's offences ; and Cap. Sandford had same "usage, 
on account of his relation to the Gillams. Cap. William Bond, 
who had been under Mr. Baily, was sent for home ; and other regu- 
lations made in the management of affairs, but all could not hin- 
der the ruin of them all by the enemy. 

The Company, by their Governours and agents, made such com- 
pacts with the captains or kings of the rivers and territories 
where they had settlements, for the freedom of trade there, ex- 
clusive of all others, that the Indians could not pretend they had 
encroach'd upon them. These compacts were render'd as firm 
as the Indians could make them, by such ceremonies as were most 
sacred and obligatory among them. 

Now were the Company in possession of five settlements, viz., 
Albany River, Hayes Island, Rupert River, Port Nelson, and New 

* Encroachments the French considered them. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 157 

Severn. Their trade at each of them was considerable. From 
Albany River they had generally 3,500 beavers a year ; and by 
Mr. Sergeant's great's care and fidelity, their commerce encreas'd 
so much that the French began to be afraid all the Upland In- 
dians might be drawn down to the Bay.* They knew they could 
do anything with King James II., who then reigned in England, and 
that no affront .would make that prince break with Lewis the 
XlVth. Wherefore they resolv'd to drive the English out of all their 
places in the bottom of the Bay. First they took Hayes Island, 
and then the fort on Rupert's River. The French Company at 
Canada procur'd a detatchment of soldiers to be sent under the 
Chevalier de Troyes, who came over land from Quebec, and in 
a time of profound peace committed these acts of hostility. 

The 8th of July, 1686, the Chevalier de Troyes came before the 
fort at Albany River, where the Governour, Mr. Sergeant, then 
resided. Two Indians had inform'd him of their having surpriz'd 
the forts at Hayes Island and Rupert River, and had brought 
with them the great guns from those places. 

Two hours after the English heard them discharge their guns, 
and saw some of them at a distance. Upon which part of the 
Company's servants declar'd they would not venture their lives 
unless they might be assur'd of pay, and sent John Parsons and 
John Garret, two of their number, in all their names, to the Go- 
vernour, to tell him their resolutions. Mr. Sergeant, by promises 
and giving them cloaths and other necessaries, prevail'd with 
them to return to their charge. But in a day or two they mu- 
tiny'd again, and Elias Turner, the gunner, possess'd the people 
with an apprehension that it was impossible to hold out the place, 
declaring that for his part he would throw himself on the French. 
Accordingly he went to the Governour, and de.'dr'd leave so to do ; 
but being threat'ned to be shot to death in case he attempted it, 
he was at last perswaded to return to his post. 

The English shot at the French as long as they appear' d in 
the brushes, and forc'd them to retire under the banks, where the 

* Which is proof that the French still held that trade. 



158 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

guns from the fort could not hit them. The French had found a 
way to bring their great guns through the woods, and had planted 
them on their battery before the English saw them. 

The enemy's shot had made a breach in the flankers, and da- 
maged the houses in the fort ; upon which, and the repeated de- 
sires of the men, the Governour consented to a parley ; Mr. Bridger 
assuring him the enemy were mining them, and they should cer- 
tainly be blown up. Cap. Outlaw also agreed to capitulate, and 
the white flag was hung out ; after which a treaty was con- 
cluded.* 

At this time Thomas Phips, Esq., was Governour of Port Nel- 
son, which was not then taken by the French ; and the Company 
expected Fort Albany would have been restor'd to them in King 
James' time ; but all their solicitations were in vain, and all the 
settlements they had, Port Nelson excepted, were abandoned to the 
French. 

The war breaking out, as has been said, between the two na- 
tions, the Hudson's Bay Company sollicited for soldiers to be sent 
thither to recover their settlements ;f and in the year 1693 they 
retook all the forts and factories which the French had taken 
from them in time of peace. 

In which expedition they met with no more difficulties than 
the Chevalier de Troves had met with. Cap. Grinnington was 
the person employ'd for this service ; and John Knight, Esq., was 
appointed Governour of Fort Albany ; but his government was of 
no long continuance, for in a little time the French sent such a 
power against the English, that they again drove them from all 
their settlements in the bottom of the Bay. 

The French Company made Monsieur de la Fores Governour 
of Fort Albany, and garrison' d all the forts they had taken, which 
made it necessary for the government to send a stronger power 
than the Company could raise to recover them. 

The King of England, to protect their trade, assign'd two 
men of war for their service, in the year 1696, as the Bonaven- 

* This is given on page 132. 

+ In spite of the Treaty of Neutrality. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 159 

ture, Cap. Allen, Commander, and the Seaford. Cap. Allen com- 
ing into the River Hayes, sent to summon all the forts to surren- 
der, and the French Govern our finding he could not defend them 
against the English, capitulated, and on the 2d of August, 1696, 
surrender'd Albany Fort. 

Cap. Allen took the Governour and some of his men aboard 
his own ship ; some he put aboard the Seaford, and the rest aboard 
a merchantman call'd the Bering. In his return he fought the 
Mary Rose, frigat, then a French privateer of 50 guns, and was 
kill'd in the engagement, which gave the Frenchman an oppor- 
tunity to bear away. 

As to the other two forts, they followed the fate of Albany, 
and Mr. Knight was restored to his government ; at which time 
John Geyer, Esq., was Governour of Port Nelson. Mr. Knight 
had serv'd Mr. Sergeant while he was Governour of Fort Albany 
and was well acquainted with the trade. 

In the year 1697, the Hampshire, frigat, and Owners Love, 
fire-ship, two of the King's ships, were lost in this Bay, and all 
the men drown'd. Indeed the ice renders it so dangerous that the 
commerce seems to be not worth the risk that is run for it. Whe- 
ther those two ships ran against those frozen mountains that float 
in that sea, or founder' d, is not known ; but 'tis certain they were 
lost, and all the men perish'd. 

In the present war they lost Port Nelson to the French, and 
have either given up or deserted all their settlements, except Fort 
Albany, where Mr. Knight manag'd their affairs till the year 1706, 
when he was succeeded by John FuHerton, Esq., the present 
Governour at Albany River. 

OTHER ACCOUNTS. 

La compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson a actuellement quatre fact or- 
eries, Churchill, le Fort York, Albany, etcelle de la riviere de Moose. 
Le Fort York est repute* le plus important : il est situe* sur le bras 
meridional de la riviere de Hayes, cinque lieues au-dessus de l'en- 
droit ou elle se jette dans la mer, a 57° 20' lat., et a 93° 58' de 



160 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

longitude.* — Histoire et Commerce des Colonies Anglaises dans 
V Amerique Septentionale : London, 1755. 

" The whole of the settlements in New Britain are as follows : — 
Abbitibbi, Frederick, East Main and Brunswick Houses, Moose 
Fort, Henley, Gloucester and Osnaburg Houses, and a House of 
Winnipeg Lake, Severn or New Severn, York Fort or Nelson, 
Churchill Fort or Prince of Wales' Fort, South Branch, Hudson's, 
Manchester and Buckingham Houses : the last is the westernmost 
settlement, and lately erected (1798.) 

" Hudson's House, one of the Company's factories on the S. W. 
side of Saskatchewan River, 100 miles east of Manchester House, 
and - 167 S. E. of Buckingham House, or lat. 55° 32', W. long. 106° 
27' 20". "i* — American Gazetteer. By Jedediah Morse, D.D. Lon- 
don, 1798. 

Winterbotham's Historical, Geographical, and Philosophical 
View of the United States, and of the European Settlements 
in America and the West Indies, 1795, gives the following as 
the forts occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company. They were all 
on the shores of the Bay : 





N. Lat. 


W. Lon. 


Churchill, 


59° 0' 


94° 30' 


York Fort, 
Severn House, 


57° 10' 
56° 12' 


93° 0' 

88° 57' 


Albany Fort, 
Moore Fort, 


52° 18' 
51° 28' 


85° 18' 
83° 15'. 


East Main, 


53° 24' 


78° 50' 


And he adds : 






" The country lying round Hudson's Bay, or the country of the 
Esquimaux, comprehended Labrador, New Britain, and South 



* The Hudson's Bay Company has at present four factories : Churchill, Fort York, 
Albany, and that of Moose River. Fort York is reputed the most important : it is situ- 
ated on the south branch of the Hayes River, five leagues above the point where it runs 
into the sea, at 57 deg. 20 min. lat. , and 93 deg. 58 min. long. 

+ This would be about the forks of the Saskatchewan. In another place this fort is 
said to be 600 miles west of Fort Churchill. The same statement is made in the folio 
edition of 1794. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 161 

Wales, has obtained the general name of New Britain, and is at- 
tached to the government of Lower Canada. A superintendent 
of trade, appointed by the Governor-General of the four Provinces, 
and responsible to him, resides at Labrador. 

" Before the Canadian merchants pursued the fur trade with such 
diligence as they now do through the lakes, and had penetrated 
into the interior parts of Hudson's Bay, a great number of In- 
dians used to come annually down to the Company's settlements 
to barter their skins ; and although the Company have now in a 
great measure lost the benefit of this lucrative traffic, it may not 
be amiss to mention the manner in which the Indians prosecute 
their voyages to the factories 

" The merchants from Canada have been heard to acknowledge 
that were the Hudson's Bay Company to prosecute their inland 
trade in a spirited manner, they must soon be obliged to give up 
all thoughts of penetrating into the country ; as from the vicinity 
of the Company's factories to the inland posts, they can afford to 
undersell them in every branch. 

" To explain this emulation between the Company and the Ca- 
nadian traders, it will be necessary to review the state of the Com- 
pany in the year 1773. About that time, the Canadian traders 
from Montreal, actuated by a laudable spirit of industry and ad- 
venture, and experiencing the peculiar advantages that resulted 
from their exertions, had become so numerous and indefatigable at 
the head of the rivers which led to the Company's settlements, 
that the trade of the latter was in a great measure cut off from its 
usual channels. The Indians being supplied with everything they 
could wish for at their own doors, had no longer occasion, as they 
had hitherto done, to build canoes, and paddle several hundred 
miles, for the sake of cultivating a commerce with the Company, 
in which peregrination they were frequently exposed to much 
danger from hunger ; so much so, that at one time seven canoes 
of Upland Indians perished on their return to their own 
country." 

Edmund Burke, in his Account of the European Settlements 
in America, says : " Certain British geographers agree with the 
11 



162 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

French, whose maps they have for a long time servilely and 
shamefully copied." 

Again : " With regard to our claims in the Ohio and Mississippi, 
the rashness of some writers in a matter which is a public con- 
cern, seems to me very blamable, some of them timidly or igno- 
rantly drawing our territories into a very inconvenient narrowness, 
whilst others have madly claimed all North America from sea to 
to sea ; some would give us very narrow bounds, whilst others 
would listen to no bounds at all." (1757.) 

And again : " Posterity will, perhaps, think it unaccountable 
that, in a matter of such importance, we could have been so 
thoughtless as to have on our back such a nation as France, with- 
out determining, even sufficiently clear to settle our own de- 
mands, what part of the country was our own right, or what we 
determined to leave to the discretion of our neighbours ; or that 
wholly intent upon settling the sea coast, we have never cast an 
eye into the country, to discover the necessity of making a bar- 
rier against them, with a proper force, which formerly did not 
need to have been a very great one, nor to be maintained at any 
great expense." 

Salmon's Modern History, licensed by the King, Dec. 
13, 1743, says: " As to Canada, or New France, the French 
would scarce admit it had any bounds to the north on 
this side the pole, till they were limited on that side by 
an article in the Treaty of Utrecht, which assigns New 
Britain and Hudson's, Bay, on the north of Canada, to Great 
Britain. And Commissioners on both sides afterwards ascertained 
the limits,* by an imaginary line running from a cape or promon- 
tory of New Britain in the Atlantic Ocean, 58° 30' north latitude, 
and running from thence south-west to the Lake of Misconsink, or 
Mistassin, and from thence further south-west, indefinitely to the 
latitude of 49°, all the lands to the north of the said line being as- 






* This is certainly a mistake, though it seems to have been generally believed. If 
the boundary had been agreed upon the Hudson's Bay Company would not be ignorant 
of the fact ; nor would the French Governor of Canada, some years later, hav« 
claimed the Hudson's Bay for the northern boundary of his province. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 163 

signed to Great Britain, and all to the south of the said line, as far 
as the St. 'Lawrence, to the French. 

" The eastern boundary of New France or Canada, the French 
admit, are the British plantations of Nova Scotia, New England, 
&c. ; the southern boundary, the line which divides New France 
from ' Louisiana ; and to the westward, the French extend the 
country of New France as far as the Pacific Ocean ; and the Asi- 
atic continent of Asia shall be found hereafter to be contiguous 
to North America, 

" * * * However, as they [the French] have actually been pos- 
sessed of some countries in Canada, between the River of St. Law- 
rence and New Britain or Hudson's Bay, for about one hundred 
years, and those countries seem to be confirmed to them, as far as 
the English had a right to confirm them, I shall readily allow their 
title to that part of Canada . But as to the rest of Canada and 
Louisiana, they cannot have a right to any part of them, notwith- 
standing the posts they have erected on those rivers. The east- 
ern side of the Mississippi is the property of the Indians, subject 
to Great Britain, and the western side of it belongs to the In- 
dians, who are under the dominion of the Spaniards ; and we 
find the Spaniards asserting their title to it by demolishing the 
forts of Mons. de Salle and Mons. d' Iberville, erected on the west 
side of the river, and have as much right to demolish the forts 
the French have erected on the west side of it." 

And the error about the boundary line of Canada having been 
determined is repeated : " And it was agreed [at Utrecht] that 
commissaires on the part of Great Britain and France should de- 
termine within a year the limits to be fixed between the said Bay 
of Hudson and the places appertaining to the French, which lim- 
its the subjects of Great Britain and France were not to pass over 
to each other by sea or land. And commissaires did afterwards 
settle the limits by an imaginary line, drawn from a promontory 
situate on the Atlantic Ocean, in 58° 30 r , and running from thence 
south-west to the Lake of Misconsink, or Mistassin, and from 
thence south-west, indefinitely, to the latitude of 49 9 ; all the 
countries to the north being assigned to Great Britain, and all on 



164 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

the south, between that % line and k the River of St. Lawrence or 
Canada, to France." 

Another writer, who has paid particular attention to North 
America, believed the fable of a Spanish vessel having crossed 
the continent from the Pacific Ocean to Hudson's Bay : " It is 
alleged that the Spaniards have recently found an entrance in the 
latitude of 47° 55' north, which in twenty-seven days brought 
them to the vicinity of Hudson's Bay ; this latitude exactly 
corresponds to k the ancient relation of John de Fuca, the Greek 
pilot, in 1592." — Dalrymple's Plan for Promoting the Fur 
Trade, 1789. 

INSTRUCTIONS OF CAPT. GEO. VANCOUVER. 

Captain Vancouver undertook a voyage of discovery to the 
North Pacific Ocean, in 1791, principally with a view to ascertain 
the existence of any navigable communication between the North 
Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, having command of the Discovery 
sloop of war, and the armed tender Chatham. His instructions 
were prepared 

" By the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord 
High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland, &c. 

"The King having judged it expedient that an expedition 
should be immediately undertaken for acquiring a more complete 
knowledge, than has yet been obtained, of the north-west coast of 
America ; and, the sloop you command, together with the Chat- 
ham armed tender (the Lieutenant commanding which has been 
directed to follow your orders), having been equipped for that 
service, you are, in pursuance of his Majesty's pleasure, signified 
to us by Lord Grenville, one of his principal Secretaries of State, 
hereby required and directed to proceed, without loss of time, 
with the said sloop and tender, to the Sandwich Islands, in the 
North Pacific Ocean, where you are to remain during the next 
winter ; employing yourself very diligently in the examination 
and survey of the said islands : and, as soon as the weather shall 
be favourable (which may be expected to be in Februar}^ or at 
latest in March, 1792), you are to repair to the north-west coast 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 165 

of America, for the purpose of acquiring a more complete know- 
ledge of it, as above mentioned. 

"It having been agreed, by the late convention between his 
Majesty and the Catholic King (a printed copy of which you will 
receive herewith), that the buildings and tracts of land situated 
on the north-west coast above mentioned, or on islands adjacent 
thereto, of which the subjects of his Britannic Majesty were dis- 
possessed about the month of April, 1789, by a Spanish officer, 
shall be restored to the said British subjects, the Court of Spain 
has agreed to send orders for that purpose to its officers in that 
part of the world ; but as the particular specification of the parts 
to be restored may still require some further time, it is intended 
that the King's orders, for this purpose, shall be sent out to the 
Sandwich Islands, by a vessel to be employed to carry thither a 
further store of provisions for the sloop and armed tender above 
mentioned, which it is meant shall sail from this country in time 
to reach those islands in the course of next winter. 

" If, therefore, in consequence of the arrangement to be made 
with the Court of Spain, it should hereafter be determined that 
you should proceed, in the first instance, to Nootka, or elsewhere, 
in order to receive, from the Spanish officers, such lands or build- 
ings as are to be restored to ]the British subjects, orders to that 
effect will be sent out by the vessel above mentioned. But if no 
such orders should be received by you previous to the end of 
January, 1792, you are not to wait for them at the Sandwich 
Islands, but to proceed in such course as you may judge most 
expedient for the examination of the coast above mentioned, com- 
prized between latitude 60 deg. north and 30 deg. north. 

"In which examination the principal objects which you are to 
keep in view are, 

" 1st, The acquiring accurate information with respect to the 
nature and extent of any water communication which may 
tend, in any considerable degree, to facilitate an intercourse for 
the purpose of commerce, between the north-west coast and the 
country upon the opposite side of the continent, which are 
inhabited or occupied by his Majesty's subjects. 



166 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

" 2dly, The ascertaining, with as much precision as possible, the 
number, extent and situation of any settlements which have been 
made within the limits above mentioned, by any European 
nation, and the time when such settlement was first made. 

" With respect to the first object, it would be of great importance 
if it should be found that, by means of any considerable inlets of 
the sea, or even of large rivers communicating with the lakes in 
the interior of the continent, such an intercourse, as hath been 
already mentioned, could be established; it will, therefore, be 
necessary, for the purpose of ascertaining this point, that the 
survey should be so conducted as not only to ascertain the 
general line of the sea coast, but also the direction and extent 
of all such considerable inlets, whether made by arms of the sea, 
or by the mouths of large rivers, as may be likely to lead to, or 
facilitate, such communication as is above described. 

" This being the principal object of the examination, so far as 
relates to that part of the subject, it necessarily follows, that a 
considerable degree of discretion must be left, and is therefore left 
to you, as to the means of executing the service which his Majesty 
has in view ; but, as far as any general instructions can here be 
given on the subject, it seems desirable that, in order to avoid any 
unnecessary loss of time, you should not, and are therefore hereby 
required and directed not to pursue any inlet or river further 
than it shall appear to be navigable by vessels of such burden as 
might safely navigate the Pacific Ocean : but, as the navigation 
of such inlets or rivers, to the extent here stated, may possibly 
require that you should proceed up them further than it might be 
safe for the sloop you command to go, you are, in such case, to 
take the command of the armed tender in person, at all such 
times, and in such situations as you shall judge it necessary and 
expedient. 

"The particular course of the survey must depend on the 
different circumstances which may arise in the execution of a 
service of this nature ; it is, however, proper that you should, and 
you are, therefore, hereby required and directed to pay a par- 
ticular attention to the examination of the supposed straits of 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 167 

Juan de Fuca, said to be situated between 48 deg. and 49 deg. 
north latitude, and to lead to an opening through which the sloop 
Washington is reported to have passed in 1789, and to have come 
out again to the northward of Nootka. The discovery of a near 
communication between any such sea or strait, and any river 
running into or from the Lake of the Woods, would be particularly 
useful. 

" If you should fail of discovering any such inlet, as is above 
mentioned, to the southward of Cook's River, there is the greatest 
probability that it will be found that the said river rises in some 
of the lakes already known to the Canadian traders, and to the 
servants of the Hudson's Bay Company ; which point it would, 
in that case, be material to ascertain ; and you are, therefore, to 
endeavour to ascertain accordingly, with as much precision as the 
circumstances existing at the time may allow: but the dis- 
covery of any similar communication more to the southward 
(should any such exist) would be much more advantageous for 
the purposes of commerce, and should, therefore, be preferably 
attended to, and you are, therefore, to give it a preferable atten- 
tion accordingly Given under our hands the 

8th of March, 1791." 

" Chatham. 

"Rd. Hopkins. 

" Hood. 

* J. T. TOWNSEND." 

" To George Vancouver, Esq., 
Commander of His Majesty's 
Sloop the Discovery, at Fal- 
mouth!' 

u By command of their Lordships, 

" Ph. Stephens." 



1G8 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

CAPTAIN MIDDLETON TO A. DOBBS, ESQ. 

Jarty 1742-3. 

" I have seriously considered your proposition of laying open 
the Hudson's Bay trade, and settling the country higher up, upon 
those great rivers which run into the Bay ; and though I may 
agree with you in the great advantage the public would receive 
from such a settlement, (could it be made) both as to their trade, 
and the cutting off communication with the Mississippi, yet I 
must declare my opinion, that it is altogether impracticable upon 
many accounts ; for I cannot see where we could find people 
enough that would be willing or able to undergo the fatigue of 
travelling in those frozen climates, or what encouragements would 
be sufficient to make them attempt it, with such dangerous ene- 
mies on every side ; no Europeans could undergo such hardships 
as those French that intercept the English trade, who are inured 
to it, and are called by us wood-runners (or coureurs des bois), for 
they endure fatigues just the same as the native Indians, with 
whom they have been mixed and intermarried for two or three 
or more generations. 

" As to the rivers you mention, none of them are navigable with 
anything but canoes, so small that they carry but two men, and 
they are forced to make use of land carriages near the fourth part 
of the way, by reason of water-falls during that little summer they 
enjoy. 

" Out of 120 men and officers the company have in the Bay, 
not five are capable of venturing in one of those canoes, they are 
so apt to overturn and drown them. Many of our people have 
been twenty years and upwards there, and yet are not dexterous 
enough to manage a canoe ; so there would be no transporting 
people that way." 



UNSETTLED BOUND AEIES OF ONTARIO. 16'^ 

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE BOUNDARIES OF 

CANADA. 



DESCRIPTIONS IN THE COMMISSIONS OF FRENCH GOVERNORS OF 

CANADA. 

Provisions en faveur du Sieur de Lauzon, de la charge de 
Gouverneur et Lieu tenant-General du Roi en Canada, du 17me 
Janvier, 1651, donnant en charge du Gouverneur et notre Lieu- 
tenant General dans toute l'e'tendue du Fleuve Saint Laurent, en 
la Nouvelle France, isles, et terres adjacentes depart et d'autre du- 
dit fleuve, et autres rivieres qui se dechargent enicelui jusqu'a son 
embouchure, a prendre dix lieues pr&s de Miscou, du c6te du sud 
et du cote' du nord, autant s'etendent les terres dudit pays, de la 
meme sorte, et tout ainsi que l'avoit, tenoit et exer9ait le Sieur 
Daillebout.* — Commissions des Gouverneurs et Intendants, T. 
II. p. 1651. 

The extent of country here mentioned is repeated in the Lettres 
Patentes du Gouverneur de la Nouvelle France, en faveur du Vi- 
comte d'Argenson; du 26me Janvier, 1657; in the Lettres Patentes 
du Roi, qui e'tablissent le Sieur de Mezy, Gouverneur pour trois 
ans dans l'e'tendue du fleuve Saint Laurent dans la Nouvelle 
France, a la place du Sieur du Bois d'Avangour rappele* par sa 
Majesty du premier Mai, 1663.-f* 

The expression depuis le Nord du Canada jusques a la Virginie, 
is used in the commission of M. le Barrois, April 8, 1685, as agent- 
general for the Compagnie des Indes Occidentals. 

* Provision in favour of Sieur de Lauzon, appointing him Governor and Lieutenant 
of the King, January 17, 1651, " over the whole extent of the river St. Lawrence, in 
New France, the isles and lands adjacent, on both sides of the said river and the other 
rivers that discharge therein, as far as its mouth, taking in ten leagues near to Miscou, 
on the south, and on the north as far as the lands of the said country extend (du nord, 
autant s'etendant les terres dudit pays), in the same manner that it was held and exer- 
cised by Sieur Dailleb out." — Commissions des Gouverneurs et Intendants, T. II. p. 1651. 

+ Letters Patent appointing Sieur de Mezy, Governor for three years over the coun* 
try traversed by the St. Lawrence, (dans l'e'tendue du fleuve St. Laurent) in New 
France, in the place of Sieur du Bois d'Avangour, recalled by the King on the 1st May, 
1663. 



170 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

The description in the prolongation de la Commission de Gouv- 
erneur et Lieutenant-Ge'ne'ral sl Quebec, accorded par le Roi au 
Sieur Huault de Montmagny, du 6me Juin, 1685, makes him 
Lieutenant-General representing the person of the sovereign at 
Quebec, et dans les Provinces arrose'es du fleuve Saint Laurent 
et des autres rivie" res qui se de de'chargent en icelui, et lieu qui en 
dependent en la Nouvelle France.* 

The "lettres" patentes du Lieutenant-Ge'ne'ral du Canada et autres 
pays, pour le Sieur de la Roche, du 12me Janvier, mille cinq cent 
quatre-vingt dix-huit," make him " Lieutenant-Ge'ne'ral es dits pay s 
de Canada, Hochelaga, Terres-neuves, Labrador, Riviere de la 
Grande Baye, de Mozambique, et terres adjacentes desdites Pro- 
vinces et rivieres, lesquelles e'tant de grande longueur et Vendue de 
pays sans icelles 6tre habite'es par sujets de Prince Chretien. * * * 
Pourvu toutefois que ce ne soient pays oceupe's ou e'tant sous la 
sujetion et obeissance d'aucuns princes et potentats, nos amis, allies 
et confe'de're's."+ 

The commission of M. Talon, of March 23, 1665, makes him 
u Intendant de la Justice, Police et Finances, en Canada, Acadie 
Terreneuve, et autres pays de la France Septentrionalle."J 

The commission of M. de Bouteroue, April 8, 1688, Intendant, 
is in the same terms as that of M. Talon. 

The commission of M. Bigot, January 1st, 1748, makes him 
Intendant of Justice, Police, Finances, and Marine, "en n6tre pays 
de Canada, la Louisianne, et dans toutes les terres et isles ddpen- 
dantes de la Nouvelle France." § 

* And in the Provinces watered by the St. Lawrence, and the rivers which discharge 
into it, and the places that depend thereon in New France, 

+ The letters patent appointing Sieur de la Roche, January 12, 1598, make him 
Lieutenant-General of Canada, Hochelaga, Newfoundland, Labrador, the River of 
the Great Bay, of Mozambique, and the adjacent lands, provinces, and rivers, which 
are of great length and extent of country, not inhabited by the subjects of any Christian 
Prince. * * * * Provided always that it shall not embrace any country occupied 
and under the subjection of any Christian Princes and potentates, our friends, allies 
and confederates. 

X Intendant of Justice, Police and Finances, in- Canada, Acadie, Newfoundland, 
and other countries of Northern France. 

§ In our country of Canada, Louisiana, and in all the lands and islands depend- 
ent on New France. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 171 

DESCRIPTIONS IN COMMISSIONS AFTER THE CONQUEST. 

The commission of Jas. Murray, Esq., Captain -General and 
Governor-in-Chief of the Province of Quebec, is dated Nov. 21> 
1763, recorded at the Treasury Chambers next day, and in the 
Register's office in Quebec, June 7, 1766 : 

George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, 
France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and so 
forth, to our trusty and well-beloved James Murray, Esquire, 
Greeting : 

We, reposing especial trust and confidence in the prudence, 
courage and loyalty of you, the said James Murray, of Our special 
grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, have thought fit to 
constitute and appoint, and by these presents do constitute and 
appoint you, the said James Murray, to be Our Captain-General 
and Governor-in-Chief in and over Our Province of Quebec, in 
America ; bounded on the Labrador coast by the River St. John, 
and from thence by a line drawn from the head of that river, 
through Lake St. John, to the south end of Lake Nipissim, from 
whence the said line crossing the River St. Lawrenee and the 
Lake Champlain in forty-five degrees of northern latitude, passes 
along the highlands which divide the rivers that empty them- 
selves into the said River St. Lawrence from those which fall into 
the sea ; and also along the north coast of the Baye des Chaleurs 
and the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Rosiers ; and 
from thence crossing the mouth of the River St. Lawrence by the 
west end of the Island of Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid 
River St. John. 

COMMISSION OF VICE-ADMIRAL. 

George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain 
France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, to our beloved 
James Murray, Esquire, Our Captain-General and Governor-in- 
Chief in and over our Province of Quebec, in America, 

Greeting : 

We, confiding very much in your fidelity, care, and circumspec- 



172 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

tion in this behalf, do by these presents, which are to continue 
during Our pleasure only, constitute and depute you, the said 
James Murray, Esq., Our Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief 
aforesaid, Our Vice-Admiral, Commissary, and Deputy in the office 
of Vice- Admiralty in Our Province of Quebec aforesaid, and terri- 
tories thereon depending, and in the maritime parts of the same 
and thereto adjoining whatsoever ; with power of taking and 
receiving all and every the fees, profits, advantages, emoluments, 
commodities, and appurtenances whatsoever due and belonging to 
the said office of Vice-Admiral, Commissary, and Deputy, in Our 
said Province of Quebec, and territories depending thereon, and 
maritime ports of the same and adjoining to them whatsoever, 
according to the ordinances and statutes of Our High Court of 
Admiralty in England. 

And We do hereby remit and grant unto you the aforesaid 
James Murray, Esq., Our power and authority in and throughout 
Our Province of Quebec aforementioned, and territories thereof, 
and maritime ports whatsoever of the same and thereto adjacent, 
and also throughout all and every the sea-shores, public streams, 
ports, fresh water rivers, creeks and arms as well of the sea as of 
the rivers and coasts whatsoever of Our said Province of Quebec, 
and territories dependent thereon, and maritime ports whatsoever 
of the same and thereto adjacent, as well within liberties and 
franchises as without. 

[This commission bears date March 19, 1764. The expression 
" Our Province of Quebec and territories thereon depending," or 
" territories depending on the same," or "territories dependent 
thereon," occurs seven or eight times.] 

The first commission of Guy Carleton, Esquire, as Lieutenant- 
Governor of the Province of Quebec, dated April 7, 1766, has no 
other description than is contained in the words " Province of 
Quebec, in America." But in his appointment of Francis Maseres 
as Attorney-General, the attesting clause of the commission reads : 
"Witness Our trusty and well-beloved the Honourable Guy 
Carleton, Esquire, Our Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in- 
Chief in and over Our said Province of Quebec, and the territo- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 173 

rie% depending thereon in America, at Our Castle of St. Lewis, in 
Our City of Quebec, the twenty-fifth day of September, in the 
year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six, and 
in the sixth year of Our reign. 

(Signed) Guy (L. S.) Carleton. 

COMMISSION OF THE PROVOST-MARSHAL. 

George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France 

and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, <Scc. To all to whom 

these 'presents shall come, 
Greeting : 

Know ye, that We, for divers good causes and considerations 
Us hereunto moving, of Our special grace, certain knowledge and 
mere motion, have given and granted, and by these presents for 
Us, Our heirs and successors, do give and grant unto Our trusty 
and well-beloved Nicholas Turner, Esq., the office of Provost- 
Marshal of Our said Province of Canada, and him the said Ni- 
cholas Turner, Provost-Marshal of our said Province of Canada, 
We do, for Us, Our heirs and successors, make, ordain and con- 
stitute by these presents. 

Dated September 23, 1763. 

[The commission of Henry Ellis, Esquire, Clerk of the Council, 
Commissary or Steward General of Provisions and Stores, and 
Clerk of the Enrolments, dated April 30, 1763, contains the word 
Canada instead of Province of Quebec] 

George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France 
and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, <Scc. To all 
to whom these presents shall come, 
Greeting : 

Know ye that We, reposing especial trust and confidence in the 
faithfulness, experience, and ability of Our trusty and well-beloved 
Henry Ellis, Esquire, of Our special grace, certain knowledge and 
mere motion, have given and granted, and by these presents for 
Us,Our heirs and successors,do give and grant unto the said Henry 
Ellis, the offices and places of Secretary and Clerk of the Council 



174 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

of Our Province of Canada, and of Commissary or Steward- General 
of all such provisions and stores as are or shall be from time to 
time provided and sent for the forces of Us, Our heirs or successors, 
in Our said Province, and Clerk for the inrolling and registering 
all deeds and conveyances made and passed in that Our Province, 
and also all bills of sale and letters patent, or other acts or mat- 
ters usually inrolled, or which by the laws of that Province shall 
be directed to be inrolled. 

And him, the said Henry Ellis, Secretary and Clerk of the Coun- 
cil of Our said Province of Canada, and Commissary or Steward- 
General of all such provisions and stores as are or shall be, from 
time to time, provided and sent for the forces of Us, Our heirs or 
successors, in Our said Province of Canada, and Clerk of Inrol- 
ments, for inrolling and registering of all deeds and conveyances 
made and passed in that Our Province, and also all bills of sale 
and letters patent, or other acts or matters usually inrolled, or 
which by the laws of that Our Province shall be directed to be 
inrolled, We do make, ordain and constitute by these presents. 

[Commissions of Justices of the Peace, under the Public Seal of 
the Province, for the District of Montreal or Quebec, as the case 
might be, contained the words " in Our Province of Quebec."] 

DESCRIPTION IN THE COMMISSION OF GUY CARLETON AS GOVERNOR 
UNDER THE QUEBEC ACT. 

" Our Province of Quebec, in America, comprehending all the 
territories, islands and countries in North America, bounded by a 
line from the Bay of Chaleurs along the high lands which divide 
the rivers that empty into the St. Lawrence from those which fall 
into the sea, to a point in forty-five degrees of northern latitude 
on the eastern bank of the River Connecticut, keeping the same 
latitude directly west through the Lake Champlain, until in the 
same latitude it meets with the River St. Lawrence ; from thence 
up the eastern bank of the said river to the Lake Ontario, 
thence through the Lake Ontario, and the river com 
monly called Niagara ; and thence along by the eastern and 
south-eastern bank of Lake Erie, following the said bank until the 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 17$ 

same shall be intersected by the northern boundary granted by 
the Charter of the Province of Pennsylvania, in case the same shall 
be so intersected, and from thence along the said northern and 
western boundaries of the said Province until the said western 
boundary strikes the Ohio ; but in case the said bank of the said 
Lake shall not be found to be so intersected, then following the 
said bank until it shall arrive at the point of the said bank which 
shall be nearest the north-western angle of the Province of Penn- 
sylvania, and thence by a right line to the said north-western 
angle of the said Province; thence along the western boundary 
of the said Province, until it strikes the Ohio, and along the said 
bank of the said river westwards to the banks of the Mississippi, 
and northward along the eastern bank of the said river to the 
southern boundary [of the territory*] granted to the merchant 
adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay." 

DESCRIPTION IN THE COMMISSION OF CAPT.-GENERAL AND GOVERNOR 
IN CHIEF TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR GUY CARLETON, K. B., NOW 
LORD DORCHESTER, DATED 22ND APRIL, 1786. 

" — have thought fit to appoint you, the said Guy Carleton, to be 
Our Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over Our Pro- 
vince of Quebec, in America, comprehending all our territories, 
islands and countries in North America ; bounded on the south 
by a line from the Bay of Chaleurs along the highlands which 
divide the rivers that empty themselves into the River St. Law- 
rence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the north- 
westmost head of Connecticut River ; thence down along the 
middle of that river to the forty -fifth degree of north latitude; 
from thence by a line due west on said latitude until it strikes 
the River Iroquois or Cataraqui ; thence along the middle of the 
said river into Lake Ontario ; through the middle of the said Lake 
until it strikes the communication by water between that Lake 
and Lake Erie ; through the middle of said Lake until it arrives 
at the water communication between that Lake and Lake Huron; 

* It is evident that the words within brackets were omitted by error in the copy from 
which I transcribe. 



176 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

thence through the middle of said Lake to the water communica- 
tion between that Lake and Lake Superior ; thence through Lake 
Superior northward to the Isles Royal and Philippeaux to the 
Long Lake ; thence through the middle of said Long Lake and 
the water communication between it and the Lake of the Woods 
to the said Lake of the Woods ; thence through the said Lake to 
the most north-western point thereof; and from thence on a due 
west course to the River Mississippi and northward to the south- 
ern boundary of the territory granted to the merchant adven- 
turers of England trading to Hudson's Bay." 

BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN NEW YORK AND CANADA. 

An Order of the King in Council, confirming the boundary 
line between the Provinces of New York and Quebec, fixed by Sir 
Henry Moore, the Governor of New York, and Brigadier General 
Carleton, Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, at a meeting held for 
that purpose ; and regulating the claims made by His Majesty's 
new Canadian subjects to lands situated on the south side of that 
line. 

At the Court of St. James's, the 12th day of August, 1768 : Pres- 
ent the King's Most Excellent Majesty, Duke of Grafton, Duke of 
Rutland, Duke of Queensbury, Maf quis of Granby, Earl of Litch- 
field, Earl of Hillsborough, Earl of Shelburne, Viscount Wey- 
mouth, Viscount Falmouth, Viscount Barrington, Viscount Villiers, 
Lord North, James Stuart McKenzie, Esq., Thomas Hartley, Esq., 
Sir Edward Hawke. 

Whereas there was this day read at the Board a report from 
the Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of Council for 
Plantation affairs, dated the ninth of this instant, upon consider- 
ing a report made by the Lords Commissioners for Trade and 
Plantations, upon an extract of a letter from Sir Henry Moore, 
Governor of New York, to the Earl of Shelburne, dated the 16th 
January last, relative to the settling of the boundary line between 
that Province and Quebec ; by which report it appears that it having 
been mutually agreed upon between Sir Henry Moore and the Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Province of Quebec, at a meeting for that 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 177 

purpose appointed, that the line of division between these Pro- 
vinces should be fixed at the 45th degree of north latitude, con- 
formable to the limits laid down in His Majesty's proclamation of 
October, 1763 ; and it having been ascertained and determined 
by proper observations where the said line would pass, it is 
therefore proposed that these proceedings above stated should be 
confirmed by His Majesty. 

His Majesty, taking the said report into consideration, was 
pleased, with the advice of his Privy Council, to approve thereof, 
and doth hereby confirm the said proceedings above stated, and 
order that the said line of division be run out and continued as 
far as each province respectively extends. 

Provided that nothing herein contained shall extend to affect 
the properties of His Majesty's new subjects having possessions 
under proper titles on those parts of the lands on the south side 
of the line, the dominion of which was not disputed on the part 
of the Crown of Great Britain. 

And provided also, that this determination shall not operate 
wholly to deprive His Majesty's new subjects of such concessions 
on the south side of the said line, on which they may have made 
actual settlement and improvement, although the lands may have 
been disputed by Great Britain ; bub that such possessors shall 
be entitled to so much of the said concessions as shall be propor- 
tioned to their improvements, at the rate of fifty acres for every 
three acres of improvement, provided they take out grants for the 
same under the seal of the Province of New York, subject to the 
usual quit rents. 

And provided, also, that the grant to no one person shall ex- 
ceed twenty thousand acres. 

And the governors or commanders-in-chief of His Majesty's said 
Provinces of New York and Quebec for the time being, and all 
others whom it may concern, are to take notice of His Majesty's 
pleasure hereby signified, and govern themselves accordingly. 

(Signed) Steph. Cottreli. 



12 



178 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

THE HUDSON BAY COMPANY'S GRANT TO THE EARL OF SELKIRK 






Whereas the Governor and Company of Hudson's Bay have 
ceded to the Right Honourable Thomas, Earl of Selkirk, his heirs 
and successors, for ever, all that tract of land or territory bounded 
by a line running as follows, viz. : Beginning on the western shore 
of Lake Winnipic, at a point in fifty-two degrees and thirty mi- 
nutes north latitude ; and thence running due west to Lake 
Winipigashish, otherwise called Little Winnipic; then in a south- 
erly direction through the said lake, so as to strike its western 
shore in latitude fifty-two degrees ; then due west to the place 
where the parallel of fifty-two degrees north latitude intersects 
the western branch of Red River, otherwise called Assiniboine ; 
then due south from that point of intersection to the height of land 
which separates the waters running into Hudson's Bay from those 
of the Mississouri and Mississippi Rivers; then in an easterly di- 
rection along the height of land to the source of the River Win- 
nipic, (meaning by such last named river the principal branch of 
the waters which unite in the Lake Saginagas,) thence along the 
main stream of those waters and the middle of the several lakes 
through which they pass, to the mouth of the Winnipic river; 
and thence in a northerly direction through the middle of the 
Lake Winnipic, to the place of beginning: which territory is called 
Ossiniboia, and of which I, [the undersigned, have been duly ap- 
pointed Governor: 

And whereas, the welfare of the families at present forming 
settlements on the Red River, within the said territory, with those 
on the way to it, passing the winter at York and Churchill Forts 
in Hudson's Bay, as also those who are expected to arrive next 
autumn, renders it a necessary and indispensable part of my duty 
to provide for their support in the yet uncultivated state of the 
country; the ordinary resources derived from the buffalo and other 
wild animals hunted within the territory are not deemed more than 
adequate for the requisite supply : Wherefore, it is hereby or- 
dered, that no persons trading in furs or provisions within the 
territory, for the Honourable Hudson's Bay Company or the 



UNSETTLED BOUND AKIES OF ONTARIO. 179 

North-west Company, or any individual or unconnected traders 
or persons whatever, shall take out any provisions, either of flesh, 
fish, grain, or vegetables procured or raised within the said terri- 
tory, by water or land carriage, for one twelvemonth from the 
date hereof, save and except what may be judged necessary for 
the trading parties at this present time within the territory to carry 
them to their respective destinations, and who may on due appli- 
cation to me obtain a license for the same. The provisions procured 
and raised as above shall be taken for the use of the colony ; and that 
no loss may accrue to the parties concerned, they will be paid for by 
British bills at the customary rates. And be it hereby further 
made known, that whosoever shall be detected in attempting to 
convey out, or shall aid and assist in carrying out, or attempting 
to carry out, any provisions prohibited as above, either by water 
or land, shall be taken into custody, and prosecuted as the laws in 
such cases direct; and the provisions so taken, as well as any 
goods and chattels, of what nature soever, which may be taken 
along with them, and also the craft, carriages and cattle instru- 
mental in conveying away the same to any part but to the settle- 
ment on Red River, shall be forfeited. 

Given under my hand at Fort Daer (Pembina), the 8th day of 
January, 1814. 

(Signed) Miles M'Donell, Governor. 

By order of the Governor, 

(Signed) John Spencer, Secretary. 



180 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

PROPOSED EXCHANGE OF PLACES. 



ALTERNATIVES PROPOSED BY FRANCE. 

Mr. Vernon, Secretary of State, to Lord Lexington, communicat- 
ing the alternatives proposed by the Ambassador of France, 
regarding the boundaries between France and England in 
America, April 29, 1700, to the Board of Trade and Plan- 
tations. 

My Lord, — Having received the alternative from the French 
Ambassador, I send your lordship a copy of it, that it may be 
considered at your board by Wednesday next. 

I am, my Lord, &c, 

(Signed) Ja. Vernon. 

"Par la premiere alternative, je propose que la France garde le 
Fort Bourbon et l'Angleterre celui de Chichitouan, ayant de part 
et d'autre pour limites entre les deux nations de ce c6t£, le — i — 

qui est justement a morbid chemin entre les deux forts susdits, 

et en ce cas la les limites de la France, du cote' de l'Acadie, ser- 
oient restraintes h la Riviere Saint George. 

"Parladeuxieme alternative je propose que le fort de Chichitouan 
reste a la France, et le Fort de Bourbon & TAngleterre, ayant 
pour limites ce me'me endroit, dont je viens de parler cidessus ; 
mais en cas Ton demande que les limites de la France, du c6 v te' de 
l'Acadie, s'dtendent jusqu'a la Riviere Kenibeki. 

" Quant a la peche, comme toute commerce est ddfendu entre les 
deux nations dans les colonies, et que sous le pre'texte de venir 
pecher ou ne manqueroit pas de venir traflquer en contrabande, 
Ton croit que, suivant l'usage deja e'tabli en ces pays la, il faut que 
la p^che soit deTendue hors de la ported de la vue ; mais comme il 
survient toujours des incidens quant il n'y a point une distance 
de'termine'e, on demande quelle soit fixe'e a huit lieues, et que par 
le meme raison et crainte des memes inconve*niens qu'on vient 
d'exposer,! esj isles qui se trouveront compris dans cet espace la 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 181 

appartiennent a celle des deux nations sur le c6te* dansHaquelle 
elles se trouveront.* 

OBSERVATIONS |OF THE BOARD OF "TRADE AND PLANTATIONS ON 

THE ABOVE, j 

What the interest of the Hudson Bay Company may be in 
keeping Fort Chichitouan, alias Fort Albany, or exchanging it 
for Fort Bourbon, alias York, they themselves can best determine. 

^F 5(C 5j£ 7T yfc w 

The proposal for settling limits between the English and French 
in Hudson's Bay is groundless ; for by the late Treaty of Peace, 
Art. 8, the only right reserved to the French in Hudson's Bay is 
in relation to those places which were taken from the English by 
the French during the peace which preceded the late war, and re- 
taken from them by the English during the said war, which can- 
not imply any extent of territory more than the places so taken 
and possessed ; and the Hudson's Bay Company challenging an 
undoubted right to the whole Bay, antecedent to any pretence of 
the French, it is necessary they be consulted before any conces- 
sion of territories be made to the French in those parts. 

I do hereby certify that these papers are true copies, compared 
with the originals in the books of this office. 

(Signed) Thomas Htll. 

Plantation Office, Whitehall, 
July 12, 1750. 

* By the first alternative, I propose that France keep Fort Bourbon, and England 
that of Chichitouan, having for limits between the two nations in that quarter the 

, which is exactly half-way between the two Forts ; and in that case, the limits 

' of France, on the side of Acadie, shall be restricted to the Biver St. George. 

By the second alternative, I propose that Fort Chichitouan shall remain with France, 
and that of Bourbon with England, having for limits the same place of which I spoke 
above ; but in that case I demand that the limits of France in Acadie should extend 
to the Kenebec. 

As to the fishery, as all commerce between the colonies of the two nations is for- 
bidden, and as under the pretext of fishing a contraband trade would be sure to be 
carried on, it is thought, according to the usage established in that country, the fishery 
should be prevented as far as the eye can reach ; but as difficulties always arise when 
a determined distance is not agreed upon, it is proposed to fix it at eight leagues, and 
that for the same reason, and for fear of the same inconvenience, the islands which 
are found comprised within this space should belong to whichever of the two nations on 
the shores of which they are situated. 



182 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE PEACE OF UTRECHT. 



PRELIMINARY DEMANDS FOR GREAT BRITAIN. 

April, 1711. 

Newfoundland and the Bay of Hudson shall be entirely restored 
to the English. Great Britain and France shall respectively keep 
and possess all the countries, dominions, and territories in North 
America which each of these nations shall possess at the time 
that the ratification of this treaty shall be published in those 
parts of the world. 

REPLY OF THE FRENCH KING. 

La discussion decet article sera remise aux conferences ge'ne'rales 
de la paix ; bien entendu que la faculty de p^cher et de secher la 
nolu (sic) sur l'lsle de Terreneuve, sera re'serve'e aux Francois.* 

GENERAL PLAN OF PEACE FOR GREAT BRITAIN. 

(4.) The King [of the French] will give up the Province of 
Acadia, with the Town of Port Royal and its dependencies, .to 
Great Britain, as also Hudson's Straits and Bay. 

{5.) In the countries of North America ceded to Great Britain, 
the French shall be at liberty to withdraw their effects, as also 
His Majesty to withdraw the cannon and warlike stores. 

D. England demands that the town of Placentia remain in its 
present state. 

That the cannon and warlike stores in Hudson's Bay remain 
for England. 

R. His Majesty offers to let the fortifications of Placentia re- 
main as they are, upon giving up that place to England ; to con- 
sent to the demand made of the cannon in Hudson's Bay, and, 
besides, to cede the Island of St. Bartholomew ; to give up even 

* The discussion of this article shall be referred to the general conferences of the 
peace, provided the liberty of fishing and drying cod fish upon the Isle of Newfound- 
and be reserved to the French. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 183 

the right to fish and dry cod on the coast of Newfoundland, if 
the English will restore Acadia, for these new concessions pro- 
posed as an equivalent. 

In this case, His Majesty consents that the river St. George 
should be the boundary of Acadia, as England insists. 

Should the plenipotentiaries of that Crown refuse to enter into 
any expedient for the restitution of Acadia, the King, rather than 
break off the negotiation, will comply with their demands already 
made ; that is to say, to give up Placentia fortified, and the can- 
non in Hudson's Bay ; it being well understood that the offer to 
cede the Islands of St. Martin and St. Bartholomew, and that of 
the foregoing right to fish and dry cod upon the coast of New- 
foundland, are also to be considered as if they had never been 
made. 

(6.) After the peace, Commissioners shall be appointed on both 
sides to ascertain, within the compass of a year, the boundaries of 
Canada, or New France, on one side, and of Acadia and the land 
of Hudson's Bay on the other, and to settle, in a friendly man- 
ner, all just and reasonable recompenses insisted upon on both 
sides for injuries done prejudicial to the rights of peace and 
war. 

(7.) The boundaries being once settled, the subjects of both 
Crowns shall be reciprocally prohibited from passing the same, 
whether by sea or land; as also from disturbing the trade of 
the subjects of each nation, and molesting the Indian nations, 
allies or subjects of the Crown. [Whom had the French foi 
allies ?] 

Mesnager, the French Ambassador, gave in this answer, with 
others, on the 27th Sept. (Oct. 8, N.S.), 1711, promising, in the 
name of his said Majesty, that the said answers shall be looked 
upon as conditions that he agrees to grant, of which the articles 
shall be reduced into the ordinary form of treaties, and ex- 
plained, after the most clear and intelligent manner, to the com- 
mon satisfaction of France and Great Britain, and this in case 
of the signing of the treaty of the general peace. 



184 UNSETTLED BOUND AKIES OF ONTARIO. 

REPORT OF THE FRENCH PLENIPOTENTIARIES TO THE KING. 

Extract from the account given by the French Plenipotentiaries 
to Louis XIV. in their despatch of April 18, 1712. 

Nous avons fait tous nos efforts pour regagner l'Acadie ou du 
moins conserver Terreneuve, mais il nous a e*te* absolument im- 
possible d'en venir & bout. lis nous ont protests cent fois qu'ils 
avaient ordre expres de tout rompre plut6t que de se relacher 
sur Tun et sur l'autre, aussi bien que sur le Detroit de la Baie 
d'Hudson, ou ils pre*tendent meme que tout le canon leur de- 
nature; nous neles en aurions pas cru sur parole si le SieurGautier 
ne nous avait confirm e* la m§me chose. 

Comte de Pontchartrain remarked on the project of the English 
that it would have to be considered whether the savages were 
subjects; if so, they could not pass the limits that would be 
fixed; if not, there was no right to make any rule regarding 
them. Lord Bolingbroke agreed to " defendre aux sujets de 
France et d'Angleterre de passer les limites lorsqu'elles auront 
6t6 fixers."* 

MEMOIRE TOUCHANT l'AMERIQUE. 

St Jean a Monsieur de Torcy, de Whitehall, ce 24>me Mai, 
V. S., 1712. (Written in French.) 

Pour terminer toutes les disputes survenues a regard de l'Amer- 
ique Septentrionale, la Reine propose : 

Premier ement. Que Sa Majeste* Tr€>s-Chretie*nne lui cMe l'ile 



* We have made every possible effort to regain Acadia, or at least to retain New- 
foundland ; but it has been impossible for us so to conclude the matter. They [the 
English Plenipotentiaries] have protested a hundred times that they had express orders 
to break off the negotiations rather than to give way on either point, or upon that of 
Hudson's Bay, where they claim even the cannon ; we should not have taken their 
word for this if le Sieur Gautier had not confirmed what they said. 

Count de Pontchartrain remarked on the project of the English that it would have 
to be considered whether the savages were subjects; if so, they could not pass the 
imits that would afterwards be fixed; if not, there would be no right to make any rule 
regarding them. Lord Bolingbroke agreed to prohibit the subjects of France and Eng- 
land from passing over the boundary when it had once been established. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 185 

de Terreneuve, avec Plaisance, et les fortifications, artillerie, et 
munitions y appartenantes, les petites iles adjacentes, et les plus 
proche & l'ile de Terreneuve, comme aussi Nova Scotia oul'A.cadie, 
selon les limites anciennes. 

Secondement. Que les sujets de Sa Majeste* Tres Chretie*nne con- 
tinuent de p§cher et de secher ]eur poisson sur la partie de Terre- 
neuve qui s'appelle le Petit Nord, mais point dans autre partie de 
ladite ile. 

Troisieiiiement Que les sujets de sadite Majeste* puissent 
jouir en commun avec ceux de la Reine de l'ile du Cap Breton, 

Quatriemement. Que les iles dans le Golphe de St. Laurent et 
dans rembouchure de la rivi&re de ce nom, qui sont pre'sentement 
occupies par les Frangois, demeurent a Sa Majesty Tr&s-Chre- 
tie*nne, mais expresse*ment a condition, que sadite Majeste* s' en- 
gage de ne pas e*lever, ou permetre qu'on e*leve aucune fortification 
dans ces iles, ou dans celle du Cap Bre*ton. Sa Majeste* la Reine 
s'engageant aussi de ne point fortifier, ni laisser fortifier dans les 
iles adjacentes et les plus proches de Terreneuve, ni dans celle 
du Cap Breton. 

Cinqwiemement. La Reine insiste d'avoir le canon et les muni- 
tions de guerre dans tous les forts et places de la Baie et du De- 
troit de Hudson.* 



* St. John to the Monsieur de Torcy, Whitehall, May 24, O.S., 1712. (Written in French.) 

To terminate all the disputes which have arisen with regard to America the 
Queen proposes : 

Firstly. That His Most Christian Majesty shall cede to her the Island of Newfound- 
land, with Plaisance, and the fortifications, artillery, and munitions thereto belonging, 
the small isles adjacent and the nearest to Newfoundland, as well as Nova Scotia or 
Acadie, according to its ancient limits. 

Secondly. That the subjects of His Most Christian Majesty shall continue to fish 
and dry their fish on the part of Newfoundland called le Petit Nord, but not in any 
other part of the island. 

' Thirdly. That the subjects of His said Majesty shall enjoy, in common with those 
of the Queen, the Isle of Cape Breton. 

Fourthly. That the isles in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the embouchure of the 
river of the same name, which are at present occupied by the French, shall remain to 
His Most Christian Majesty, but expressly on the condition that His said Majesty en- 
gages not to erect, or permit to be erected, any fortification in these isles or on those of 
Cape Breton. Her Majesty the Queen also engages not to fortify, nor to permit for- 



180 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

REPONSE DU ROI AU MEMOIRE DE LONDRES, LE 5ME JUIN, V.S., 

1712. 

Article Premiere. — Sa Majeste* consent de c&der & la Reine de la 
Grande Bretagne Tile de Terreneuve avec la ville de Plaisan'ce, 
fortified, mais l'artillerie et les munitions dont cette place est 
pourvue en seront retirees, et ne seront pas comprises dans la 
cession qui sera faite de la place et de File, car elles ne sont at- 
taches ni a Tune ni a l'autre, et pour user d'une comparaison 
commune, on peut regarder l'artillerie and les munitions d'une place 
comme les meubles d'une maison qu'un particulier emporte lorsqu'il 
cede cette m£me maison par un contrat volontaire. Les iles adja- 
centesaceile de Terreneuve, n'onte'te' ni demanded ni promises, par 
les articles signds a Londres, au mois d'Octobre dernier : comme ils 
onfc servide regie au commencement et au progres de la negotiation 
pr^sente l'intention du Roi est de suivre exactement cette meme 
regie, comme la plus sure pour parvenir a la conclusion du Traits, 
et Sa Majesty est persuaded que la Reine de la Grande Bretagne, 
fidelle a sa parole, n'insistera pas sur une demande nouvelle, et qui 
nese tronve pas dans la convention signe*e au nom de cette Princesse. 
Le Roi veut bien adj outer a cette convention la cession de l'Aca- 
die selon ses anciennes limites, ainsi qu'elle est demand e*e par la 
Reine de la Grande Bretagne. 

Seconds. — Les articles signed a Londres re*servent auxsujets du 
Roi la faculty de p£cher et de s^cher les moruessur l'ile de Terre- 
neuve ; une disposition faite de gre a gre* ne se peut restraindre 
ni regevoir de changement que ceux qu'on juge reciproquement 
etre conforme a Futility commune. Sur ce fondement, le Roi offre 
a l'Angleterre de lui laisser l'artillerie et les munitions de Plais- 
ance, les iles adjacentes a celle de Terreneuve, d'interdire aux 
Frangois la liberty de pecher and de s£cher la morue sur la c6te de 
cette ile, meme sur la partienomme'e le Petit Nord, d'ajouter k ces 
conditions la cession des iles de St. Martin et de St. Bartholemy, 

tifications to be erected, in the adjacent isles which are nearest to Newfoundland, nor 
in those of Cape Breton. 

Fifthly. The Queen insists on having the cannon and the munitions of war in all 
the forts and places of the Bay and Straits of Hudson. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 187 

voisines de celle de St. Christophe, si moyennant cette ofFre nou- 
velle, la Reine de la Grande Bretagne consent si restituer l'Acadie, 
dont la Riviere St. George sera desormais les limites, ainsi que les 
Anglais le pre'tendoient autrefois. II est done au clioix dela Reine 
de la Grande Bretagne, ou de s'en tenir aux articles signes a Lon- 
dres, ou d'accepter l'e'change que Sa Majesty propose. En ce 
dernier cas, Sa Majeste* apporterait toutes les facilities qui de*pen- 
droient d'elle pour terminer, a, l'Angleterre, l'affaire de ce rancon 
de l'ile de Nieves (Nevis). 

Troisieme. — Comme un des principaux fruits de la paix sera, 
s'il plait a Dieu, l'intelngence parfaite que le Roi se propose 
d'e*tablir entre ses sujets et ceux de la Reine de la Grande 
Bretagne, il faut e*carter toutes les propositions capable de troubler 
cette heureuse union ; l'espe*rance n'a fait que trop voir, qu'il etait 
cornme impossible de la conserver dans les lieux posse*de*s en com- 
mun par la nation Francoise et la nation Anglaise ; ainsi cette 
seule raison suffiroit pour emp§cher Sa Majeste* de consentir & la 
proposition de laisser les Anglais posse'der en commun l'ile du Cap 
Breton avec les Francois. Mais une raison plus forte s'oppose 
encore a cette proposition, et comme on ne voit que trop que les 
nations les plus amies deviennent souvent ennemies, il est de la 
prudence du Roi de se reserver la possession de la seule ile, qui lui 
ouvre desormais l'e'ntre'e de la riviere du St. Laurent. Elle sera 
absolument fermee aux vaisseaux de Sa Majeste', si les Anglois, 
maitres de l'Acadie et de Terreneuve, possedoient encore l'ile 
du Cap Breton en commun avec les Francois, et le Canada seroit 
perdu pour la France au premier e*ve*nement qui renouvelleroit 
entre les deux nations la guerre, que Dieu de*tournera pour long 
temps ! mais le moyen le plus assure* de la preVenir est de penser 
souvent qu'elle peut renaitre. 

Quatmeme. — Onne dissimulera pas que e'est par lameme raison 
que le Roi veut se reserver la liberte naturelle et commune a 
tous les souverains, d'elever dans les iles du Golphe, et dans l'em- 
boucbure de la Riviere du St. Laurent, aussi bien que dans l'ile du 
Cap Breton, telles fortifications que Sa Majeste' jugera necessaries. 
Ces ouvrages, faits uniquement pour la suretd du pays, ne pourront 



188 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

jamais nuire aux iles and aux provinces voisines. II est juste que 
la Heine de la Grande Bretagne ait la m§me liberte* d'e*lever les 
fortifications, quelle jugera ne*cessaires, soit dans l'Acadie, soit 
dans l'ile de Terreneuve, et sur cet article le Roi ne pre'tend rien 
exiger de contraire aux droits que la proprie'te' et la possession 
donneront naturellement a cette Princesse. 

Cznquieme. — Le Roiveutbieh par une consideration particu- 
li&re pour la Reine de la Grande Bretagne lui laisser le canon 
and les munitions de guerre qui se trouveront dans les forts et 
places de la Baie et du Detroit d'Hudson, nonobstant les 
fortes raisous que Sa Majesty auroit de les retirer, et de les trans- 
porter ailleurs.* 

* Reply of the King to the Memoir from London, June 5, 0. S., 1712. 

Article First.— His Majesty consents to cede to the Queen of Great Britain the 
Island of Newfoundland with the Town of Plaisance, fortified, but the artillery and 
munitions with which this place is provided shall he taken away, and not be comprised in 
the cession which shall be made of the place and the island ; for they are neither at- 
tached to the one nor the other, and, to use a common comparison, the artillery and 
munitions of a place may be regarded as the furniture of a house which a private 
person takes away when he gives up the house by a voluntary contract. The isles ad- 
jacent to that of Newfoundland were neither demanded nor promised by articles signed 
at London in the month of October last : as they served for a rule at the commence- 
ment and during the progress of the present negotiation, the intention of the King is 
to follow exactly this same rule as the surest means of arriving at the conclusion of the 
treaty ; and His Majesty is persuaded that the Queen of Great Britain, true to her 
word, will not insist on a new demand, which is not to be found in the convention 
signed in the name of this Princess. 

Second. — The articles signed at London reserve to the subjects of the King the pri- 
vilege {faculte) of fishing and drying their cod fish on the Isle of Newfoundland ; a dis- 
position made by mutual agreement can neither be restricted nor changed, but as it 
may be reciprocally regarded as advancing the common utility. On this ground the 
King offers to leave to England the munitions of Plaisance, the isles adjacent to that 
of Newfoundland, to interdict the French from fishing and drying codfish on the shores 
of this island, even on the part called le Petit Nord, to add to these conditions the 
cession of the Isles of St. Martin and St. Bartholemy, near those of St. Christopher, 
if in consideration of this offer the Queen of Great Britain will consent to restore 
Acadie, of which the River St. George shall hereafter be the limits, as the English have 
previously contended. It is therefore for the Queen of Great Britain to choose, either 
to hold to the articles signed at London, or to accept the exchange which His Majesty 
proposes. In the latter case, His Majesty will do all* in his power to terminate, to the 
satisfaction of England, the affair of the ransom of the Isle of Nevis. 

Thirdly.— As one of the principal fruits of the peace will be, if it please God, that 
perfect understanding which the King proposes to establish between his subjects and 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 189 

OFFERS OF FRANCE — DEMANDS FOR ENGLAND — THE KING'S 
ANSWERS. 

Sept. 10, 1712. 

Apres la conclusion de la paix on nommera des commissaires de 
part et d'autre tant pour re*gler, dans l'espace d'un au, les limites 
du Canada, ou de la Nouvelle France, d'un cote', et celles de 
l'Acadie et des terres de la Baie de Hudson, de l'autre, que pour 
accommoder a l'amiable toutes les demandes justes et raisonables, 
pre*tendu de part et d'autre pour des griefs reeus contre les droits 
de la paix et de la guerre. 

Les limites e*tant une fois fixers, on de*fendra aux sujets des deux 
couronnes de les passer et d'aller, par la mer ou par terre, les uns 
parmi les autres ; d'interrompre le negoce de l'une ou de l'autre 



those of the Queen of Great Britain, it is necessary to avoid all propositions capable 
of disturbing this happy union. Experience has only made it too evident that it was" 
impossible to preserve it in the places possessed in common by the French and English 
nations ; thus this single reason is sufficient to prevent His Majesty consenting to the 
proposition to leave the English to possess, in common with the French, the Isle of 
Cape Breton. But a still stronger reason opposes itself to this proposition, and as it 
is but too often seen that the most friendly nations often become enemies, it is the 
part of prudence in tbe King to reserve the possession of the only isle which will here- 
after open to him the entrance of the River St. Lawrence. It would be absolutely 
closed to vessels of His Majesty, if the English, masters of Acadie and Newfoundland, 
should also possess the Island of Cape Breton in common with the French, and Canada 
would be lost to France in the event of the first war, which may God long avert, that 
might break out between the two countries. But the surest means of succeeding is 
often to think that it might break out. 

Fourthly. — It need not be disguised that the King desires to reserve the liberty, 
natural and common to all sovereigns, to erect in the Isles of the Gulf, and in the en- 
trance of the River St. Lawrence, as well as in the Isle of Breton, such fortifications 
as His Majesty may judge necessary. Those works, created solely for the safety of 
the country, can never be injurious to the Isles of the neighbouring Provinces. It is 
but just that the Queen of Great Britain should have the same liberty to erect such 
fortifications as she may judge necessary, whether in Acadie or the Isle of Newfound- 
land, and in this respect the King does not pretend to require anything contrary to 
what the rights of property and possession give naturally to this Princess. 

Fifthly.— -The King, out of a particular consideration for the Queen of Great Britain, 
consents to leave to her the cannon and munitions in the forts and places of the Bay 
and Straits of Hudson, notwithstanding the strong reasons which His Majesty may 
have for withdrawing and transporting them elsewhere. 



190 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

nation parmi eux, ou . de molester les Indiens qui sont allies ou 
sournis k Tune ou h l'autre couronne.* 

[The instructions of the English Commissioners, C. Whitworth, 
J. Murray,Esq., Jos. Martin, Knt., and Frederick Heme, Esq., ap- 
pointed under the 9th Article of the Treaty of Navigation and 
Commerce, concluded at Utrecht 31st March, 1713, were dated 
February 15, 1713-4. On the 15th May the French Commis- 
sioners stated they had no authority to treat of Hudson's Bay.] 

BOLINGBROKE A MONSIEUR DE TORCY. 

Whitehall, Nov. V. S., 1712. 

J'ai parcouru les projets de Traite* qui ont e'te' dresses & Utrecht, 
tant par Messieurs les Pldnipotentiares du Roi.que par ceux de 
la Reine; etje n'y trouve de difference considerable, que sur deux 
articles, celui de l'Amerique Septentrionale, et celui de commerce. 
Je ne veux pas entrer dans ce detail ; ce seroit une affaire d'une 
trop longue discussion, et au lieu de vous e*crire une lettre, je vous 
enverrois un livre. Monsieur Prior vous entretiendra sur ces- 
points, etje me bornerai a vous prier de tomber d' accord avec lui 
de quelques expe*diens, afin que les Ministres a Utrecht n'ayent 
rien a de'meler ensemble, mais puissent concourir unanimement & 
faire entrer les autres dans ses sentimens pacifiques.f 

* After the conclusion of peace there shall be named Commissioners on both sides, 
as well for regulating, in the space of a year, the limits betwixt Canada, or New 
France, on the one side, and Acadia and the Hudson's Bay on the other, as well as 
amicably to settle all just and reasonable claims by one side or the other for wrongs 
suffered, contrary to the rights of peace and war. 

The limits being once fixed, it shall be forbidden to the subjects of both Crowns to 
pass the same, to go by land or sea the one to the other, as likewise to disturb the 
trade of either nation amongst themselves, or to molest the Indian nations who are- 
allies, or who have made their submission to either Crown. 

+ BOLINGBROKE TO MONSIEUR DE TORCY. 

Whitehall, Nov. 0. S., 1712. 
I have examined the projects of treaty drawn up by the Plenipotentiaries of the 
King as well as by those of the Queen, and I do not find any great difference except in 
two articles — that on North America and that on commerce. I do not desire to enter 
into this detail ; it would be too long an affair and too long a discussion, and instead of 
writing you a letter I should send you a book. Mr. Prior will discuss these points 
with you, and I confine myself to praying you to agree with him upon some expedient, 
in order that the Ministers at Utrecht, having no subject of dispute, may unanimously 
entertain pacific sentiments. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 191 

DE TORCY TO PRIOR. 

Mtmoire pour Monsieur Prior. 

R6q\i de Monsieur de Torcy, 7me Janvier, 1712-13. II est 
portd par l'article 9 du projet, que le Roi fera mettre a la Heine de 
la Grande Bretagne, la Baie. d'Hudson, etc., de la maniere que sa 
Majesty et les Frangois la possedent pre'sentement. 

Messieurs les Plenipotentiares de la Grande Bretagne pretendent 
qu'il soit exprime* que non seulement la France rendra ce qui 
a ete pris sur les Anglois, mais encore, tout ce que VAngleterre a 
jamais possede de ce cote Id. Cette clause nouvelle est differente 
du projet, et sera une source de difficulties continuelles ; mais pour 
les eviter, le Roi a renvoye* a ses Plenipotentiares la meme carte 
de l'Amerique Septentrionale qui leur avoit 6t6 communique'e par 
les Plenipotentiares de la Grande Bretagne. Sa Majesty a fait 
trager sur cette carte une ligne qui marque les limites, de maniere 
quelle a lieu de croire qu'on pourra facilement convenir sur ce 
point de part et d'autre. 

Si toutefois il y avait encore quelque difficulty que Messieurs les 
Plenipotentiares ne pussent aplanir, la decision en seroit remise 
aux commissaires qui seront nomme*s pour regler les limites de 
l'Amerique.* 

THE DUKE OF SHREWSBURY TO LORD BOLINGBROKE. 

Paris, February 22, 1713, N. S. 

In the Treaty of Peace, they (the French King and M. de 
Torcy) said there still remained two difficulties : one is about the 
immoveable estates to be disposed of in the places which France 
is to yield up or restore, which we thought was adjusted by the 
paper sent by Mr. Prior, January 19th, and which you have like- 
wise herein inclosed : it certainly is so as to Hudson's Bay in 
particular. Monsieur de Torcy says that, as far as he knows, the 

* The ninth Article of the plan imports that the King shall give up to the Queen 
of Great Britain, Hudson's Bay, &c, in the manner they are now possessed by the King 
and the French. [The remainder of the translation will be found in the foregoing 
report. 1 



192 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

whole affair stands at Utrecht in the manner as this inclosed 
paper specifies. 

" Messieurs les Plenipotentiares de la Grande Bretagne avoient 
jusqu' a present distingue* les lieux ce'de's par le Roi a la Reine de 
la Grande Bretagne, et les lieux qu'ils appelloient restitue's. . Sous 
le nom de lieux restitue's ils comprenoient la Baie et le Detroit 
d'Hudson et l'ile de Terreneuve. Ils consentoient & laisser aux 
Francois e*tablis dans les lieux ce'de's, la faculty de vendre leur 
biens immeubles. Mais ils pretendoient que cette m§me liberty 
ne devoit pas leur §tre permise dans les lieux restitue's, supposant 
que ces immeubles avoient 6t6 leve*s aux Anglois et qu'ils devoient 
y rentrer de plein droit. Aujourd'hui Messieurs les Plenipoten- 
tiares de la Grande Bretagne ne font plus de distinction des lieux 
ce'de's et des lieux restitue's, quoique la m§me expression demeure 
dans l'article 14."* 

MEMOIRE DE MONSIEUR DE TORCY TOUCHANT LES BONA 

IMMOBILIA. 

[This paper, without date, is communicated by the Earl of 
Shrewsbury to Lord Bolingbroke, from Versailles, March 8, 
1713, N. S.] 

" Le Roi consentoit hi laisser aux Commissaires, qui seront nom- 
me's apres la paix, l'autorite' de re'tablir, dans les biens immeubles 
de la Baie d'Hudson, les Anglois que feroient voir, par des titres 
valables qu'ils en e*toient ou proprie'taire sou he'ritiers de ceulx qui 
avoient possedd ces biens."f 

* The Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain had hitherto made a distinction between 
places ceded by the King to the Queen of Great Britain, and places which they de- 
nominated restored. Under the name of places restored they included Hudson's Bay 
and Straits, and the island of Newfoundland. They agreed to allow to the French 
settled in places ceded the liberty to sell their immoveable effects, but insisted that 
the same liberty ought not to be allowed in places restored, upon a plea that such 
effects were taken from the English, who had a right to have them restored. The Ple- 
nipotentiaries now make no distinction between places ceded and places restored, 
though the same expression remains in Article 14. 

f The King consented to give Commissaires, to be named after the peace, authority 
to give possession to the English who should prove that they were proprietors, or 
the heirs of proprietors, of those who possessed such property in Hudson's Bay. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 193 

BOLINGBROKE TO THE DUKE OF SHREWSBURY. 

May 29, 1713. 

" In Monsieur de Pontchartrain's letter to the Marquis de Yau- 
dreuil, the latter is directed to yield the forts and settlements 
belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company. This order, my Lord, 
the merchants are afraid will not answer their ends. They are 
dispatching two ships to the Bay, which being at a considerable 
distance from Quebec, where the Marquis de Vaudreuil resides, 
the French who are in possession of the forts on the Bay may 
either be ignorant, or pretend ignorance, of His Most Christian Ma- 
jesty's orders, may refuse to evacuate these places, and the season 
may by consequence be lost, which your Grace knows continues 
in these northern seas but a very few months. The merchants 
therefore desire, and Her Majesty would have your Grace 
endeavour to obtain, either direct orders to the commanders in 
these places, or authentic duplicates of the orders sent to the Mar- 
quis of Vaudreuil, which may be put into the hands of the officer 
appointed to go to the Bay of Hudson, and to take possession of 
the places the French are to evacuate." 

THE DUKE OF SHREWSBURY TO LORD BOLINGBROKE. 

Paris, June 23, 1713, N. S. 

" Concerning the letters which this Court sends to the French 

governor of the forts in Hudson's Bay, which your lordship desires 

to be transmitted to you, in order to their being sent thither more 

immediately by the two ships which we dispatch thither, Mr. Prior 

has spoken to Monsieur Pontchartrain, who promises that your 

lordship shall have such letters ; but as you say that Mr. Nicholson 

will have Her Majesty's orders to give the French subjects the 

liberty of selling their immoveable estates, Monsieur Pontchartrain 

desires that authentic copies of such orders may be sent hither, or 

delivered to the Duke d'Aumont. Their Hudson's Bay- Company 

have some moveable effects upon the place, for which they are now 

sending, and they hope they shall find no opposition there on our 

part to their so doing." 
13 



194 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

MSmoires du Marquis de Torcy. Par Messieurs A. Petitot et 

Monmerique. 

" Sa Majesty donna ordre a Manager d'aj outer h\ la cession de 
Terreneuve, celle de la Baie et Detroit d'Hudson ; et, pour faire voir 
a la Reine de la Grande Brdtagne, et si ses Ministres le de'sir qu'elle 
avoit de faciliter le succes de leurs bonnes intentions, elle permit a 
Manager, par une clause particuliere et se'parC'e du me'moire, de 
remettre si Ja negotiation g^n^rale de la paix, toute discussion sur 
l'article de l'Ame'rique Septentrionale." — T. II., p. 54. 

« * * * D^s le lendemain de la second e conference, Saint 
Jean, de retour de Windsor k Londres, fit avertir Manager qu'il 
l'attendoit chez Prior. * * * La Reine, avec son conseil, 
avoit re*solu de ne pas s'arr^ter aux observations faites sur quelque 
termes juge's ambigus dans la r^ponse du Roi. Le secretaire 
d'Etat dit que I'amour de la paix l'avoit emporte, dans l'esprit de 
sa maitresse, sur toute autre consideration ; elle ne souhaitait plus 
d'autre changement que celui du terme d'AmSrique Septentrionale, 
et se rdduisoit hi demander que cette partie de l'Ame'rique fut de- 
signee par l'expression oV Amerique sur la mer du nord. 

" La difficulte de laisser aux Fran§ois le droit de p§cher et de 
secher sur les cotes de Terreneuve etoit levee ; la Reine y consen- 
toit. Manager etoit trop sage pour contester le changement de 
terme que cette princesse desiroit : aussi la satisfaction fut egale 
de sa part et de celle de Saint Jean.* " — T. II., p. 64. 



* From the Memoirs of the Marquis de Torcy. By Messieurs A. Petitot and Monmerique. 

His Majesty gave orders to Menager to add to the cession of Newfoundland, part of 
the Bay and Strait of Hudson ; and in order to show to the Queen of Great Britain 
and her Ministers the desire which he has to facilitate their intentions, he permitted 
Menager by a private clause separate from the Memoir to remit to the general negotia- 
tion of the peace the entire discussion on the article of North America. — T. II., p. 54. 

* * * On the morrow of the second conference, Saiflt John, on his return from 
Windsor to London, notified Menager that he was waiting him at Prior's house. * 

* * The Queen with her council had resolved not to dwell on (s'arre'ter) the obser- 
vations made on some expression of the King that appeared ambiguous. The Secre- 
tary of State said the desire for peace had obtained the ascendency in the mind of his 
Royal mistress over every other consideration ; she only desired to change the term 
from North America (d'Amdrique Septentrionale), and confined herself to demanding 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 195 

FORT NELSON RESTORED TO THE ENGLISH. 

RELATION DU DETROIT ET DE LA BAYE D'HUDSON. 

Par Monsieur JerSmie. 

" Le Fort fat nomme' Bourbon, et la riviere sur laquelle il est situd 
fat nomme'e Riviere Sainte The'r&se, a cause que le fort fut re'duit 
sous l'obe'issance des Francois le joar de Sainte The'rese, 14 Octo- 
bre. * * Je suis reste* commandant pendant six anne'es dans 
le Fort Bourbon, ou j'ai eu l'honneur d'etre e'tabli par ordre precis 
du Roi, dont je garde encore les commissions. Aucun de ceux 
qui m'avoient pr^ce'de', n'en avoit eu de semblables. 

" En 1714, je recus des ordres de la cour avec des lettres de M. le 
Comte de Pontchartrain, pour remettre le poste aux Anglois, ainsi 
qu'il dtoit porte' par le Traite* d'Utrecht. 

u Quoique le fort soit bati sur la Riviere Sainte The'rese, c'est par 
la Riviere Bourbon que descendent tous les sauvages qui viennent 
en traite." The first great lake through which this river passes, is 
called by the savages Tatasquoyaou Seeahigan, " qui veut dire, 
Lac des Forts, dans lequel de'charge une riviere que Ton nomme 
Quissiquatchiouen, autrement grant courant.*" 



that this part of America should be designated by the expression America on the 
North Sea. (D'Am/rique sur la mer du Nord. ) 

The difficulty of leaving to the French the right of fishing and drying fish on the 
•hores of Newfoundland was raised ; the Queen gave her consent. Menager was too 
wise to contest the change of term which this princess desired : thus she and St. John 
were equally satisfied. — T. II. , p. 64. 

* The fort was named Bourbon, and the river on which it was situated was named 
Ste. Therese, because the fort was brought under the authority of the French on the 
day of Ste. Therese, October 14. * * * I had the honour to be in command of 
the fort for six years, and I had the honour to be stationed there by express 
orders of the King, whose commission I still preserve. None of my predecessors had 
been appointed in the same way. 

In 1714 I received the orders of the Court, with letters from the Count de Pontchar- 
train, to hand over the post to the English, according to the terms of the Treaty of 
Utrecht. 

Though the fort was built on the River Ste. Therese, it is by the River Bourbon 
that the savages come to trade. The first great lake through which this river passes is 
called by the savages Tatasquoyaou Seeahigan, which signifies the Lake of Forts, in 
which discharges a river called Tuissiquatchiouey, or strong current. 



196 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

[Je're'mie estimates the annual profit of the trade of Fort Bour- 
bon to the French at 100,000 livres. In 1713, the goods they 
brought out cost 8,000 livres, and in 1714 he made over 120,000, 
which he took away when relieved by the English.] 



LIMITS OF THE POST OF TEMISCAMINGUE. 

" Son [the King's] intention e*tait d'affermer le seul poste de Te- 
miskamingue dans les limites qui naturellement doivent consister 
dans les terres arrose'es de la riviere de ce nom, et les autres qui 
se de'chargent dans ladite riviere sans qu'on puisse y comprendre 
les terres qui sont au dessus ni au dessous de ladite riviere."* — 
Memoire des representations sur V adjudication qui vient d'etre 
faite du poste de Temiskamingue, 1722. 

Begon a Monseigneur, Juin 10, 1725. 

"II fut convenu lors -de l'adjudication en reglant les" limites 
du poste de Temiscamingue qu'il e'tait ndcessaire d'y comprendre 
la Riviere du Lievre tant pour donner les bornes certaines pour le 
front et la profondeur que parce que si cette riviere n'en de*pen- 
dait point, ceux qui auraient la permission d'y faire la traite pour- 
raient y attirer une partie des sauvages du poste de Temiscamin- 
gue. C'est pour la meme raison qu'on y a compris le lac Nepis- 
singue, et la partie de la grande Riviere des Outaouais depuis la 
Rivi&re du Lievre qui s'y de'charge aussi dans la grande rivi&re du 
cotd du sud."* 

* His (the King's) intention was to settle the single post of Temiskamingue within 
the limits to which it ought naturally to be confined, to the land watered by the river 
of this name, and others that discharge therein, without comprising the lands that are 
below or above the said river. — Mimovre des Representations sur V adjudication qui vient 
d'itre faite du poste de Temiskamingue, 1722. 

Begon to Monseigneur, June 10, 1725. 

It was agreed (convenu) at the time of the adjudication in regard to the limits of 
the post of Temiscamingue, that it is necessary to embrace the River Lievre, as well 
to give certain limits for the front and the depth, as because if this river did not be- 
long to it (n'en dependait point), those who may have 'permission to carry on the trade 
there would be able to attract there a part of the savages of the Post of Temiscamin- 
gue. It is for the same reason that Lake Nipissingue and a part of the grand river 
of the Ottawas, from the River du Lievre, which also discharges into the Ottawa River 
on the so uth side, was included. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 197 

MEMOIRE DE BEGON, OCT. 20, 1725, QUI EXPLIQUE LES ANCIENNES 
LIMITES DU POSTE DE TEMISCAMINGUE. 

" Les anciennes limites de ce poste etaient du front depuis et 
compris la Riviere du Lievre qui se d^charge dans la grande 
Riviere des Outaouais du cSte* du Nord jusques et compris le lac Ne- 
pissingue, et pour la profondeur jusqu'& la Baie d'Hudson ou Ton 
ne peut aller que par la Rivi&re de Monsony ou Monsipy qui se 
de'charge dans le mer au sud du fond de ladite Baie." (From Ma- 
touan to Temiscamingue, the Ottawa river used to be called la 
Riviere Temiscamingue.) The height of land is at the Rivers 
Labyrinth e and Tahiti bis — sixty leagues from Lake Temiscamin- 
gue. "A ce portage est un poste pour la traite avec les sauvages 
des environs et de ceux de la Baie d'Hudson qui remontent la 
Riviere de Monsipy. Le cours de cette riviere jusqu'a la mer est 
d'environ quatre vingts lieues. 

" Ce poste est le plus avance' du cote* de la Baie d'Hudson, les 
Francois n'allant pas faire la traite plus loin pour ne pas s'exposer 
aux insultes des sauvages qui pourraient §tre gagnds par les 
Anglais qui sont e'tablis au bord de la mer ou est un Fort nomme' 
Monsipy. Cette rivie're est laseule de ce poste qui conduise & la 
Baie d'Hudson. 

"Pour aller au Lac Nepissingue lorsqu'on est & Mataouan on 
monte pendant quatorze lieues une riviere noinme'e la Petite 
Rivi&re jusqu'au lieu nomme' le Portage des Vases ou est la hau- 
teur des terres. On y fait trois portages qui ont ensemble environ 
cinq quarts de lieue et ensuite on descend pendant deux lieues 
une petite riviere qui se de'charge dans la Lac Nepissingue, en 
haut duquel, du cotd du Nord, se de'charge une riviere appele'e de 
la Fontaine, dont le cours est d'environ quarante lieues que Ton 
monte jusqu'a dix lieues pres du Lac Temiscamingue."* 

* MEMORIAL OF BEGON, EXPLAINING THE ANCIENT LIMITS OF TEMISCAMINGUE. 

October 20, 1725. 
The ancient limits of this post were on the front, from and comprising the River du 
Lievre, which discharges in the grand river of the Ottawas, on the north side as far as 
and comprising Lake Nipissingue, and in depth up to Hudson's Bay, where it is pos- 
sible to go only by the River Monsony or Monsipy, which discharges into the sea at 



198 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Lettre de MM. de Beauhamois et Hoquart au Ministre, Oct. 
15, 1730. — The Port of Temiscamingue had been taken from Le 
Sieur Gorgendiere, " qui pretend avoir fait des defenses consid- 
erables pendant son anne*e de jouissance en presents qu'il tit faire 
auxsauvages des differentes nations des environs de son poste pour 
les y attirer et aussi dans les avances qui] leur a faites suivant 
1' usage ordinaire des traiteurs." They urged that as one or even 
two years' possession of a post give no chance of profit, he ought 
to be relieved from the obligation to pay 200 livres for goods 
furnished from the King's stores. 



DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTH-WEST. 

State of geographical knowledge prior to the Discoveries of the 

Verandryes. 

Sieur de la Verandrye, an ensign in Canada, having command 
at Lake Nipegon, reported in 1728 that one Pako, a chief of the 
Indians (Christineaux) resident at Camanistiquia, having left his 
village to go to war towards the setting sun, arrived in a few days 
at a great lake which has three outlets. There is much in the 
first memoir of Sieur Verandrye that is fabulous and absurd, but 
there is also a slight mixture of the true or the probable. The 
story of a race of men three feet high, and of men living in the 
ground for the want of wood to build with, is utterly fabulous- 
But a new relation, forwarded to the Marquis de Beauharnois, 
Oct. 25, 1729, which continues the story of the Chief, Pako, con- 
tains a great geographical fact when it speaks of four great rivers 



the head of the said bay. [From Matouan to Temiscamingue the Ottawa River used to 
be called la Riviere de Temiscamingue.] The height of land is at the Rivers Labyrinthe 
and Tabitibis, sixty leagues from Lake Temiscamingue. At this portage is a post for 
trading with the Indians of the environs and those of Hudson's Bay, who come up the 
River Monsipy. The course of this river to the ocean is about eighty leagues. 

This is the most advanced post towards Hudson '3 Bay, the French, in order not 
to expose themselves to the insults of savages who may be in the pay of the English on 
Hudson's Bay, where Fort Monsipy is situated, do not go further for fur trading. 
This is the only river of this post which conducts to Hudson's Bay. 






UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 199 

taking their source in a height of land towards the west. These 
rivers may well stand for the Mississippi, the Saskatchewan, the 
Mackenzie and the Columbia. But at that time for a knowledge 
of the way to reach the Lake of the Woods the French were 
equally dependent on the accounts given by the Indians. Sieur 
Verandrye proposed as an aid to this discovery to make an 
establishment at the Lake of the Woods and another at Nipigon. 
" It seemed to him that it was necessary to hasten this discovery 
because the English, who were in commerce with the Christineaux, 
might become informed of the' project and forestall the French 
(nous prevenir sur ces etablissemens) if time be given to them, 
and besides these establishments could not be injurious to the post 
of Camanistiquia, and an additional advantage independent of 
the discovery of the western ocean would be derived from the 
quantity of peltries which would be obtained, and which are now 
lost among the Sioux and Assiniboils, or which are taken to the 
English by the Christineaux." 

It seems certain that, in 1728, no Frenchman had been to the 
Lake of the Woods; for in that year Verandrye was told by 
them that he could go there from Camanistiquia in twenty days. 
The Indians were afraid to undertake the voyage to the western 
ocean because some of them had been previously overtaken by the 
frost, and had had to carry their canoes a distance of ten days' 
travel from Lake Ouinipigon ; " and besides they found among 
the English (du Petit Nord) at Hudson's Bay, (?) which is not over 
ten days' journey from them, everything which could invite them 
to go in search of the western ocean." It was thought necessary to 
make another establishment at Lake Ouinipigon, estimated to be 
about two hundred leagues from the River Camanistiquia. 
Leaving Montreal in May, it might be possible to reach the Lake 
of the Woods in September. 

The third memoir on this subject, like the second, urges expe- 
dition. " The Crees," it says, " are in commerce with the English, 
where they have for interpreters the gens de terres ; it is natural 
that they should there speak of the project of having the French 
among them, and that they will give them the same information 



200 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

that they have given here. The English have every interest to get 
in advance of us, and if time be given them, they will not lose the 
opportunity of doing so." 

Pierre Margry, a writer very familiar with the colonial archives 
of Paris, published an account of the discoveries in the North- 
West, in the Moniteur, Sept 14 and November 1, which I have 
transcribed and translated. 

LES VARENNES DE VERANDRYE. 

Le poste des Sioux avait e'te', en 1728, e'tabli par Boucher de 
Montbrun, et le P&re Guingas... Impatient de commencer, M. de 
la Verandrye, par un traits signe* le 19 Mai, 1731, en presence de 
M. de la Chassaigne, Gouverneur de Montreal, s'associa quelques 
hommes qui firent les avances des marchandises et des equipements, 
et le 26 Aout, apres avoir passe* a Michilmakinac, ou il avait pris 
le Pere Messager pour missionaire, il £tait au grand portage du 
Lac Superieur, quinze lieues au sud,sud-ouest de Kamanistiquya. . . 
Si nous suivons M. de la Verandrye depuis Kamanistiquya, poste 
e'tabli pr&s du Lac Superieur pour la secondefois, vers 1717, par le 
Lieutenant Roubel de la Noiie, et ou les de*couvreurs arrivaient 
en 1731, nous verrons successivement leur partis passer la m^me 
annde par le Lac de la Pluie ou Tekamamionen, a la de'charge du- 
quel ils e'tablirent le fort St. Pierre ; traverser le Lac Menitie ou 
des Bois, sur une des rives duquel fut place, en 1732, le fort Saint 
Charles ; le Lac Ouinipigon, a cinq lieues duquel ils e'tablirent un 
fort en remontant la riviere ; la riviere Ouinipeg, appele'e par eux 
Riviere Maurepas qu'ils protegerent, en 1734, d'un fort egalement 
de'signe' sous le nom du Ministre ; la Riviere des Assiniboels, autre- 
ment dite Riviere Saint Charles, ou le fort de la Reine, bati le 3 
Octobre, 1738, servait de poste avance* ; puis la riviere Saint Pierre, 
embranchement de cette Rivi&re des Assiniboels. Cette riviere, k 
laquelle e'taient imposes a la fois le pre*nom de M. de la Verandrye 
et celui de M. de Beauharnois, fut le centre des e'tablissements, et 
le point de depart des expeditions que les decouvreurs allaient en- 
treprendre au nord et au sud. C'est par elle que nous les voyons, 
a la fin de 1738, descendre chez les Montannes, et, en 1742, vers 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 201 

le haut Missouri, puis le remonter jusqu'au Montagnes Rocheuses, 
parmi les gens des serpents, pays qui sont le terme de leur explo- 
rations du c6te* du sud. Du e6te' du nord, dans les courses dont je 
ne saurais encore determiner la date d'un mani&re precise, ils 
ont traverse* le lac Dauphin, celui des Cygnes, reconnu la Riviere 
des Biches et remonte' jusqu'^ sa fourche le Saskatchaouan, qu'ils 
nommaient Poskoiac. Deux forts furent e'tablis par eux dans ces 
contr^es, l'un au Lac Dauphin, l'autre sur la Riviere des Biches, le- 

quel fut appele* le fort Bourbon Deux ans apr£s [1738] il en 

avait, sur le demande de M. de Beauharnois, e'te' recompense par un 
enseigne en second, a la suite des services qu'il avait rendus dans 
ces commencements si p£nibles ; lorsque les difficulte's sansnombre 
qu'offraient les trois lieues et un quart du Portage de Nantaoua- 
gan rebutaient les engage's, il avait eu l'honneur de passer outre et 
d'aller commencer le premier e'tablissement au Lac de la Pluie 
ou Tekamionen ; son intelligence, son deVouement, un courage qui 
ne reculait ni devant les dangers, ni devant les fatigues, lui avaient 
me'rite' la confiance la plus complete deM.de la Verandrye, et, sl 
sa mort, celui-ci regretta non-seulement en lui un parent qui lui 
dtait cher mais encore un lieutenant pr^cieux a son entreprise. 

Ce ne fut qu'en 1743, que Y&m6 des fils de M. de la Ye- 

randrye et le chevalier, son frere, s'avancerent jusqu'aux Montagnes 
Rocheuses, dans un voyage qui dura depuis le 29 Avril, 1742, jus- 
qu'au 2 Juillet de Fannie suivante, dpoque a laquelle ils etaient de 
retour au fort Saint Charles d'ou ils £taient partis. 

lis parvinrent cette fois aux Montagnes Rocheuses, apres 

avoir rencontre* sur le chemin le Village des Beaux-hommes, les 
Pioya, la nation des Petits-Renards, les gens de Tare. Quelques- 
uns de ces noms, qu'on retrouve sur le carte de Lewis, font penser 
qu'ils arriverent aux Montagnes Rocheuses par le Yellow-stone. 
Le ler. Janvier, 1743, ils avaient ces montagnes devant les yeux ; 
le 12 du meme mois ils y arrivaient, et le Chevalier de la Yerand- 
rye, qui avait du laisser son frere a quel que distance, se pre*parait 
a les gravir 

A leur retour, le chevalier et son frere eurent soinde pren- 
dre possession des terres du haut Missouri, a leur arrived, le 19 



202 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Mars, 1743, chez les gens de la Petite Cerise, nation campe*e sur le 
"bord de ce fleuve. lis enterr&rent a cet effet, sur une Eminence 
pr&s de leur fort, une plaque de plomb aux armes du roi, et en sou- 
venir de leur passage, ils elev&rent des pierres en pyramides au nom 
du Marquis de Beauharnois. 

Ce succ&s ne suffisait cependant pas plus a M. de la Ve- 

randrye qu'il ne satisfaisait le chevalier et son fr&re, puisque par 
cette route ils avaient la crainte de rencontrer les e*tablissements 
des Espagnols, et qu'ils ne resolvaient pas non plus le probl&me de 
la mer de l'ouest, Tun des objets principaux de leur entreprise. En 
consequence, ils songerent h remonter vers le nord, ou ils de'cou- 
vrirent le Saskatchaouan ; mais ce ne fut que cinq ans plus tard.... 

[La Verandrye, loaded with 40,000 livres of debts, and being ill 
supported by the Government, ceased to prosecute his discoveries 
further.] 

M. de Beauharnois, afin de laisser aussi tomber les mau- 

vais bruits qu'avaient propages les envieux, nomma M. de Noyel- 
les pour continuer la de'couverte. 

Deja m6me en 1748, le Chevalier de la Verandrye dtait parti 
pour continuer ses de'couvertes dans l'ouest, et il avait remonte' le 
Saskatchaouan jusqu'a la fourche ou e*tait, tous les printemps, le 
rendez-vous des Christineaux des montagnes, des prairies, des ri- 
vieres. Lsi il avait appris des sauvages que cette riviere venait 
de bien loin, de la hauteur des terres ou il y avait des montagnes 
fort elevens, qu'ils avaient aussi connaissance d'un grand lac situe' 
de l'autre c6te' des montagnes, et dont on ne pouvait boire l'eau. 

[Sept. 17, 1749, died De la Verandrye, the elder.] 

Les fils de M. de la Verandrye re*clamaient l'honneur 

d'achever cette entreprise comme la plus pre*cieuse partie de leur 
heritage. 

. . . Les Christineaux brul&rent le Fort la Reine, et faillirent 
massacrer M. de Saint Pierre lui-mem© ; d'un autre c6te*, la mala- 
die de son lieutenant, le Chevalier Boucher de Nierville, montra 
encore combien non-seulement il avait nui a son propre honneur, 
mais aussi au succ&s de l'entreprise, en rejetant la pri&re instante 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 203 

que MM. de la Verandrye lui avaient fait de l'accompagner. Le 
Chevalier de Nierville, envoye* par lui pour fonder un poste vers 
la source du Saskatchuouan ou Poskoyac, avait 6t6 oblige* de s'ar- 
r§ter en route, e'puise' par les fatigues et les mis&res auxquelles 
MM. de la Verandrye e'taient faits, et quelques-uns de ses hommes 
purent seuls aller en avant jusqu'aux Montagnes Rocheuses, ou ils 
e'tablirent le Fort la JonquiSre en 1752. L'expedition ne parait 
pas avoir depassd les montagnes, lorsque M. de St. Pierre, rapelle 
par le marquis Duch^nede Menneville, qui succedait a M. de la Jon- 
qui&re vit arriver M. de la Corne, en 1753, pour le remplac,er dans 
les postes de l'ouest. La guerre de sept ans, qui n'allait pas tarder 
a, e'clater, empecha la poursuite de cette entreprise dont les co- 
lonies Anglaises, victorieuses des n6tres,devaient un jour recueillir 
les fruits. 

. . • . . • 

Dans cette guerre, plusieurs Varennes furent tue*s ; mais je n'ai 
pu, jusqu'& present, distinguer si c'e*tait les fils de M. de la Ve- 
randrye ou ceux de son frere. Le sort du Chevalier de la Veran- 
drye seul est certain ; il pent le 15 Novembre, 1761, avec un autre 
lieutenant du nom de Varenne, noye\* — Pierre Margry, in the 
Moniteur, Sept. 14 and Nov. 1, 1852. 

* Les Varennes de Verandrye. — The post of the Sioux had been established in 1728 
by Boucher de Montbrun and Father Guingas. Impatient to com- 
mence, M. de la Verandrye, by an agreement signed May 19, 1731, in presence of M 
de la Chassaigne, Governor of Montreal, associated himself with some persons who 
made advances of merchandise and equipments, and on the 26th August, after having 
gone up to Michilmakinac, where he had secured Father Meseager as a missionary, he 
found himself at the Grand Portage on Lake Superior, fifteen leagues south-south-west 

of Kamanistiquia If we follow M. de la Verandrye from Kamanis- 

tiquia, a post established near Lake Superior for the second time, about 

the year 1717, by Lieut. Roubel de la Noue, and where the discoverers arrived in 
1731, we shall see their parties pass successively the same year by Lac la Pluie or 
Tekamamionen, at the discharge of which they established Fort St. Pierre ; cross 
Lake Minitie or des Bois, on the river of which was erected, in 1732, Fort St. Char- 
les ; Lac Ouinipigon, within five leagues of which they established a fort, up the river ; 
the River Winipeg, which they called River Maurepas ; whom they honoured by erect - 
/ng a fort, also called by the name of the Minister ; the river of the Assiniboels, other- 
wise called the River St. Charles, where Fort de la Reine, built on the 3rd October, 
1738, served as the advanced post ; afterwards the River St. Peter, a branch of the 
river of the Assiniboels. This river, which received at the same time the prenom of 



204 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

PREPARATION FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN OCEAN. 

Lettre de M. Began au Minister e, Quebec, le 11 Xbre, 1718. 

La Sieur de Vaudreuil a e'te' informe* par des lettres du Sieur 
de la Noiie qu'e'tant arrive* fort tard a Kamanistiquoya ou il 
avait trouve' peu de sauvages, il n'avait pu detacher aucun de ces 
canots pour aller a la Kamanionen et qu'il y enverrait apr&s le 

M. de la Verandrye and that of M. de Beauharnois, was the centre of the establish- 
ments, and the points whence the expeditions of the discoverers started on the en- 
terprise to the north and the south. It is by this river we see them descend towards 
the end of the year 1738, among the Montannes (Mandans), and in 1742 towards the 
Upper Mississippi, after which they ascend to the Rocky Mountains, among the 
gens de serpents, the end of their expedition to the south. Towards the north, in 
an expedition of which I cannot yet determine the date with exactness, they crossed 
Lake Dauphin, Swan Lake, fell in with the River des Biches, and ascended to its 
forks the Saskatchewan, which they named Poskoiac. Two posts were established by 
them in these countries, one at Lake Dauphin, the other on the River des Biches, 

which they called Fort Bourbon Two years after (1738) he had, on the 

request of M. de Beauharnois, been recompensed by an ensigncy of the second order, 
for service which he had rendered in these painful commencements, when the innu- 
merable difficulties which presented themselves in the portage of Nantaonagon, three 
leagues and a quarter long, disgusted the engagis. He had the honour to pass it and 
to commence the first establishment on Lac de la Pluie or Tekamionen. His intelli- 
gence, his courage, a devotion which endured alike dangers and fatigues, merited the 
greatest confidence of M. de la Verandrye, and at his death the latter regretted in him 
not only a dear relative, but also a lieutenant of the greatest importance in his 
enterprise. 

It was only in 1743 that the eldest son of M. de la Verandrye 

and the chevalier his brother reached the Rocky Mountains, in a voyage which 
lasted from the 29th April, 1742, to the 2nd of July in the same year, at which 
latter date they had returned to St. Charles, whence they had started. 

They succeeded this time in reaching the Rocky Mountains, after 

having met on the road the village of Beaux-Hommes, the Piogas, the nation of 
the Little Foxes, the Bowmen. Some of these names, which were reproduced on 
the map of Lewis, give reason to believe that they reached the Rocky Mountains 
by the Yellow Stone. On the 1st January, 1743, these mountains were within sight. 
On the 12th of the same month they had been reached, and the Chevalier de la Ve- 
randrye, who had been obliged to leave his brother at some distance behind, pre- 
pared to cross them 

On their return the chevalier and his brother took possession of 

the Upper Mississippi, where they arrived on the 19th March, 1743, among the gens 
de Petite-Cerise, a nation encamped on the banks of this river. For this purpose 
they interred on an eminence near the fort a plate of lead bearing the arms of the 
King, and in remembrance of their passage they raised pyramids of stones to the 
name of the Marquis de Beauharnois. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO 205 

retour de ceux qu'il a envoy e*s ce printemps & Michilmakinac pour 
y chercher des vivres; il ajoute que les sauvages de son poste 
e'taient fort contents de cet e'tablissement et promettaient d'attirer 
tous ceux qui ont accoutume' d'aller faire leur traite a la Baie 
d'Hudson ; qu'il a fait e'crire par un des Frangais qui e'taient a la 

But this success did not satisfy M. de la Verandrye nor the cheva- 
lier his brother, since by this route they feared they might encounter Spanish es- 
tablishments ; and as they had not resolved the problem of the western sea, one of 
the principal objects of their enterprise, consequently they conceived the idea of going 
up towards the north, where they discovered the Saskatchewan five years later. 

La Verandrye, loaded with a debt of 40,000 livres, and being ill supported by the 
government, ceased to prosecute his discoveries further. 

M. de Beauharnois, in order to get rid of the ill rumours which 

the envious had propagated, named M. de Noyalles to continue the discovery. 

Already even in 1748 the Chevalier de la Verandrye had set out to continue these 
discoveries in the west, and he had ascended the Saskatchewan as far as the fork, 
where every spring the Christineaux of the mountains, the prairies, and the rivers 
rendezvoused. ^ There he had learnt from the savages that this river came from a 
great distance, from the height of land, where the mountains were very high, and 
that they knew of a great lake on the other side of which the water could not be 
drank, 

Sept. 17, 1749, died De la Verandrye the elder. 

The sons of M. de la Verandrye demanded the honour of com- 
pleting this enterprise, as the most precious part of their heritage- 

The Christineaux burnt Fort la Reine, and attempted to murder M. 

de Saint Pierre himself ; while, on the other side, the illness of his lieutenant, Che- 
valier Boucher de Nierville, showed how he had not only endangered his own honour 
but also the success of his enterprise, in rejecting the prayer of MM. de la Verandrye 
to be allowed to accompany him. Chevalier de Nierville, whom he sent to establish 
a post near the source of the Saskatchewan or Paskoyac, had been obliged to stop on 
the way, exhausted by the fatigue and misery to which MM. de la Verandrye had 
been exposed, and only some of his men were able to reach the Rocky Mountains, 
where they established Fort Jonquiere in 1752. The expedition does not appear to 
have crossed the mountains, when M. de Saint Pierre, recalled by the Marquis Du- 
chene de Menneville, who succeeded M. de la Jonquidre, witnessed the arrival of 
M. de la Corne, in 1753, to replace him in the western posts. The war of seven 
years, which soon after broke out, prevented the prosecution of this enterprise, of 
which the English colonies, victorious over ours, were one day to reap the fruit. 

In this war several Varennes were killed ; but I have not been able, to the pre- 
sent time, to distinguish whether they were the sons of M. de la Verandrye or those 
of his brother. The fate of Chevalier de Verandrye alone is certain : he perished 
by drowning on the 15th November, 1761, with another lieutenant of the name of 
Varenne.— Pierre Margry, in the Moniteur, Sept 14 and November 1, 1852. 



206 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

pointe de Chagouamigon a un chef de la nation des Scioux, et 
qu'il esperait de rdussir a faire faire la paix entre cette nation et 
celle des Christineaux, ce qui le mettra en e*tat de poursuivre avec 
moins de risque l'exe*cution des ordres qu'il a pour la de*couverte de 
la mer de l'ouest. 

En marge est e*crit; approuve* ce premier article.* 

POSTS' IN THE NORTH-WEST. 

Conseil de la Marine, 7 Dtcernbre, 1717. 

MM. de Vaudreuil et Begon, ay ant ^crit l'anne'e derni&re que la 
d^couverte de la mer de l'ouest serait avantageuse a la Colonic 
il fut approuv£, que pour y parvenir M. de Vaudreuil £tablit 
trois postes qu'iJ avait propose*, et il fut marque* en m§me terns 
de faire ces e*tablissemens sans qu'il en coutasse rien au Roi, at- 
tendu que le commerce devait indemniser ceux qui le feraint 
et d'envoyer un projet en detail de ce qu'il en couterait pour 
continuer cette ddcouverte. lis marquent en re*ponse que M. 
de Vaudreuil a fait partir au mois de juillet dernier le Sieur de 
la Notie, lieutenant, avec 8 canons pour suivre le projet de cette 
de'couverte. II lui a donne* ordre de faire l'e'tablissement du ler 
poste dans la Riviere du Kamanistiquoya dans le Nord du Lac Su- 
perieur, apres quoi il doit aller a Takamanigen vers le lac des 
Christineaux pour en faire un second et avoir par le moyen des 



* Letter of M. Begon to the Minister, Quebec, October 11, 1718. 

Le Sieur de Vaudreuil has been informed by the letters of Sieur de la Noiie, that 
having arrived very late at Kaministiquoya, where he found but few Indians, he was 
unable to send any of the canoes to Kamanionen, and that he will send them after 
the return of those which he sent this spring to Michilmakinac, in search of provisions ; 
he adds that the Indians of his post were all satisfied with this establishment and pro- 
mised to bring there all those who have been accustomed to trade at Hudson's Bay ; 
that he wrote through a Frenchman who was at Point Chagouamigon, to the chief of 
the Sioux Nation, and that he hopes to succeed in making peace between this nation 
and that of the Christineaux ; the accomplishment of which would put him in a condi- 
tion to pursue with less risk the execution of his orders for the discovery of the Western 
Ocean. 

In the margin is written : This first article approved. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 207 

sauvages les connaissances ne*cessaires pour faire le 3e au Lac des 
Assinipoelles.* 

LETTRE DE MM. DE VAUDREUIL ET BEGON AU CONSEIL. 

Quebec, le 14 Novembre, 1719. 

Le Sieur de Vaudreuil n'a regu cette anne*e aucune lettre de Sr. 
de la Noiie ; il a seulement appris par la voie de Chagoamion qui 
est au sud du fond du Lac Superieur et ou. le Sr. de St. Pierre com- 
mande depuis l'anne'e derni&re que le Sr. Pachot y avait passe*, 
allant au pays des Scioux ou il a e'te' envoyd par le Sr. la Noiie, au 
sujet de la paix qu'il me'nageait entre cette nation et celle des 
Christineaux, mais que le Sr. Pachot n'e'tant pas de retour a Chag- 
oamion dans le temps que les derniers canots en sont partis, onn'y 
e'tait point inform^ du succ&s de son voyage. 

Le silence du Sr. dela Noiie donne lieu de juger qu'il aura voulu 
attendre le retour du Sr. Pachot, pour rendre compte au Sr. de 
Vaudreuil de ce qu'il a fait pour l'execution des ordres dont il 
l'avait charge*, et qu'il u'aura pu le faire dans le temps que le Sr. 
Pachot sera arrive* a Kaministiquoya, parce que la saison aura e'te' 
trop avancde. 

Le Sr. de Vaudreuil estime que l'absence du Sr. Pachot aura 
mis le Sr. de la Noiie hors d'e'tat d'envoyer cette anne'e a Takama- 
mionen, mais ce que cet officier aura trouve* le moyen d'attirer a 

* Posts in the North-West— Council of Marine, December 7, 1717. 

Messrs. de Vaudreuil and Begon having written last year that the discovery of the 
Western Ocean would be advantageous to the Colony, it was approved that, as a means 
of succeeding in that enterprise, M. de Vaudreuil should establish three posts which he 
had proposed, and it was noted in the meantime that to found these establishments 
would cost nothing to the King, while the commerce should indemnify those by whom 
they were founded, and to send a detailed estimate of what it would cost to continue 
this discovery. They stated in reply that M. de Vaudreuil, in the month of July last, 
had caused Sieur Noiie, lieutenant, with eight cannon, to set out on this discovery. He 
was ordered to establish the first post on the River Kamanistiquoya, on the north of Lake 
Superior, after which he was to go to Takamanigen, towards the Christineaux, 1o 
establish the second, and obtain from the savages the necessary information for estab- 
lishing a third at the lake of the Assinipoelles. 



208 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

son poste les sauvages qui ont accoutum£ d'aller faire la traite a, 
la Baie d' Hudson.* 



LOSS OF TERRITORIAL RIGHTS BY ABANDONMENT. 

The abandonment [of a country] is rightly presumed when 
the ancient possessor, aware that it is in the possession of another, 
and he is at liberty to demand it back, nevertheless keeps 
silent. 

Abandonment is not less presumed when the possessor, finding 
himself obliged and forced to quit a country, makes no attempt to 
re-enter it, and does not demand it back from a third party ; and 
this third party pretending a better right than himself, takes pub- 
lic possession of it, and maintains himself there. It would be 
against all the laws of nature to pretend that one makes an acqui- 
sition for another and not for himself. — Grotius (quoted in 
the MSmoire des Commissaires Francois sur I'isle de Sainte 
Lucie). 

[Apply this to the case of the French occupation of the north- 
west, on the presumption that the country was contained in the 
charter of the Hudson's Bay Company.] 

* Lettre de MM. de Vaudreuil et Begon, au Conseil Quebec, 14 Nov. 1719. 

Le Sieur de Vaudreuil has not received any letter from Sieur de la Noue : he has only- 
learnt by way of Chagoamion, which is on the south extremity of Lake Superior, where 
Sieur St- Pierre has been in command since last year, that Sieur Pachot had passed 
there on his way to the Scioux, where he was sent by Sieur de la Noue, on the subject 
of the peace which he was trying to bring about between this nation and that of the 
Christineaux ; but that Pachot not having returned to Chagoamion when the last 
canoes left, there was no intelligence of the success of his voyage. 

The silence of Sieur la Noue gives reason for believing that he has determined to wait 
the return of Sieur Pachot, before giving an account to Sieur Vaudreuil of what he has 
done for the execution of the orders he was charged with, and that he had not been 
able to do it when Pachot had arrived at Kaministiquoya, on account of the season 
being too far advanced. 

Le Sieur de Vaudreuil supposes that the absence of Sieur Pachot has prevented Sieur 
de la Notie from sending this year to Takamamionen, but that his officer will have 
found the means of* attracting to his post the Indians who are accustomed to trade at 
Hudson's Bav. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 209 

ILLINOIS ANNEXED TO LOUISIANA. 

Extrait des Registres du Conseil d'Etat. 

Le Roi dtant en son conseil s'dtant fait representer les Lettres 
Patentes en forme d'unEditdu mois d'Aout dernier portantl'e'tablis- 
sement d'une compagnie de commerce, sous le nom de Compagnie 
d' Occident, ensemble celle du quatorze Septembre, mil sept cent 
douze, accorde*es aux Sieur Grozat ; et estimant qu'il convient 
pour le bien du service, et pour l'avantage et l'utilite* de la Com- 
pagnie d' Occident ; d'augmenter le gouvernment de la Province de 
la Louisiane et d'y joindre les pays des sauvages, Illinois, oui le 
rapport et tout conside're', sa Majeste* etant en son Conseil, de 
l'avis de Monsieur le Due a" Orleans, son oncle Regent, a uni et 
incorpore* le pays des sauvages au Gouvernement de la Province de 
la Louisiane, veut et en tend que ladite Compagnie d' Occident 
jouisse des terres comprises sous le nom dudit pays, de la meme 
maniere quelle doit jouir de celles & elle accorde*es par lesdites 
Lettres Patentes du mois d'Aout dernier, et que les commandants, 
officiers, soldats, habitans et autres qui sont et pourront §tre au- 
dit pays, reeonnoisent le Commandant General de la Louisiane, et 
lui obeissent et entendent, sans y contrevenir, en quelque sorte et 
maniere que ce soit a peine de de'sobeissance. Fait au Conseil 
d'Etat du Roi, sa Majeste' y e*tant, te*nu a Paris, le vingt-septieme 
jour de Septembre mil sept cent dix-sept. 

(Signe) Phelippeaux. 

Et ensuite est e*crit, Collationne* & l'original par nous Ecuyer, 
Conseiler Secretaire du Roi, Mai son et Couronne de France et de 
ses finances. 

(Signe*) Le Noir, avec paraphe. 

On the 19th June, 1718, the King notified the Marquis de Yaud- 
reuil, Lieutenant-Governor of Nouvelle France, le Sieur Begon, 
Intendant, and the officers of the Superior Council at Quebec, to 
read and publish the Letters Patent in form of edict of August, 
1717, establishing the Compagnie d'Occident and the arr§t of 
Council of the 27th September, 1717 " pourtant et qui unit et in- 
corpore le pays des Illinois a la Louisiane ;'" and ordering them 
14 



210 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

to be kept and observed according to their form and tenour, " Non- 
obstant bous edits, declarations, arrets, ordonnances, regiments, 
usages et autres choses a ce contraires, aux quelles nous avons de- 
roge* et deVogons par ces presentes. (Signs') Louis. Et plus bas, 
par le Roi, le Due d'Orleans, Regent, present ; Phelippeaux, avec 
paraphe. Edits, ordonnances Royaux, declarations et arrets du 
Conseil d'Mat du Roi. Desbarats : Quebec, 1803, T. I., pp. 375- 
6. Registered by the Greffier of the Superior Council of Quebec, 
Oct. 2, 1719.* 

* ILLINOIS ANNEXED TO LOUISIANA. 

Extract from the Registers of the King's Council of State- 

The King in Council, having under consideration the letters patent in form of an 
edict of the month of August last, establishing a commercial company under the name 
of the Western Company (Compagnie d'Occident) ; together with those of the 14th Sep- 
tember, 1712, granted to Sieur Crozat, and being of opinion that it would be conducive 
to the service of the King, and of use and advantage to the Western Company, to ex- 
tend the Government of the Province of Louisiana, by adding to it the country of the 
savages, called the Illinois. The report being read and everything considered, His Ma- 
jesty in Council, on the advice of the Duke of Orleans, his uncle, Regent, has united and 
incorporated the country of the savages to the Government of the Province of Louisi- 
ana, desires and intends that the said Western Company shall enjoy the lands comprised 
under the name of the said country in the same way that it ought to enjoy those 
granted to it by the said letters patent in the month of August last, and that the com- 
mandants, officers, soldiers, habitants and others who are or who may be in the said 
country will recognize the authority of the General in command of Louisiana, and 
yield obedience to him, without any kind of opposition, on pain of disobedience. Done 
at the King's Council of State, in the presence of His Majesty, held at Paris, on the 
twenty-seventh of September, 1717. 

(Signed) Phelippeaux. 

And then follows the words : Compared with the original by our esquire, councillor- 
secretary of the King, House and Crown of France and of his finances. 

(Signed) Le Noir, with paraphe. 

On the 19th June, 1718, the King notified the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Lieutenant- 
Governor of New France, le Sieur Begon, Intendant, and the officers of the superior 
Council at Quebec, to read and publish the letters patent in form of edict of August, 
1717, establishing the Western Company, and the arret of the Council of the 27th 
September, 1717, incorporating the country of the Illinois with Louisiana; and order- 
ing them to be kept and observed according to their form and tenour, notwithstanding 
any edicts, declarations, arrets, ordinances, rules, usage, and other things contrary 
thereto, from which we have derogated and do by these presents derogate : 

(Signed) Louis. 

And lower down : by the King, the Duke of Orleans, llegent, present, 

(Signed) Phelippeaux, with paraphe. 

Edits, ordonnances Royaux, declarations, et arrets du conseil d'etat du roi. 

Registered by the Clerk of the Superior Council of Quebec, Oct. 2, 1719. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 211 

LOUIS XV. TO MM. DE BEAUHARNOIS AND HOCQUART. 

Marly, May 8, 1731. 

"They (MM. de Beauharnois and Hocquart) are to be in 
formed that His Majesty has accepted the surrender of the Pro '. 
vinee of Louisiana and of the Illinois country from the India 
Company, to date from the 1st July next. They will find here- 
unto annexed copies of the arr§t issued on this subject. That 
Province will in future be dependent on the general government 
of New France, as it was previous to the grant to the Company. 

" His Majesty has not determined whether the Illinois country 
is to remain dependent on the Government of Louisiana. That 
may, nevertheless, be most convenient, as the Governor-General 
will always be equally able to send his orders to it, and to be in- 
formed there of what occurs there in regard to the Indians. MM. 
de Beauharnois and Hocquart will examine whether it be proper 
to leave this country in its present state, or to disconnect it from 
the Government of Louisiana, as was the case before it had been 
granted to the company. They will be careful to report on that 
point, and to state the reasons for and against, whereupon His 
Majesty will communicate his intentions." 

[In 1747-8, M. de Berthelot, the commandant at the Illinois, re 
ceived aid from Louisiana. He had not received any aid from 
New Orleans for fifteen months, and did not know whether the 
English were masters of the colony or if His Majesty has aban 
doned Louisiana. There was not among the King's stores nor 
among the traders an ell of cloth nor a particle of ammunition. 
He was obliged to concentrate his forces at the village of the 
Caskaquias, and to abandon the other settlements to the mercy of 
the Indians.] 

M. de Vaudreuil on the Campaign of 1759. 

' l The scarcity of provisions prevailing in the colony has deter- 
mined me to send orders to the Illinois and Detroit to forward 
(to) the Presqu'ile all the men these two posts can furnish." 



212 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE CESSION OF CANADA, 1761. 

(From the French Memorial of Propositions, July 15, 1761.) 

Article 1. — The King cedes and guarantees Canada to the 
King of England, such as it has been and ought to be possessed 
by France, without restriction, and without the liberty of return- 
ing upon any pretence whatever against this cession and guaran- 
tee, and without interrupting the Crown of England in the entire 
possession of Canada. 

Article II. — The King, in making over his full right of sover- 
eignty over Canada to the King of England, annexes four condi- 
tions to the cession : 

First, That the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion 
shall be maintained there, and that the King of England shall 
give the most precise and effectual orders that his new Roman 
Catholic subjects may, as heretofore, make public profession of 
their religion, according to the rites of the Roman Church. 

Secondly, That the French inhabitants or others, who have 
been subjects of the King in Canada, may retire into the French 
Colonies with all possible freedom and security ; that they shall 
be allowed to sell their effects and to transport their property as 
well as their persons, without being restrained in their emigration, 
on any pretence whatever (except for debt), and the English 
Government shall engage to procure them the means of transpor- 
tation at as little expense as possible. 

Thirdly, That the limits of Canada, with regard to Louisiana, 
shall be clearly and firmly established, as well as those of Louis- 
iana and Virginia, in such manner that, after the execution of the 
peace, there may be no more difficulties between the two nations 
with respect to Canada or the other possessions of England. 

[M. Bussy has a memorial on the subject of the limits of Louis- 
iana, which gives him power to come to a final treaty on that 
article with the Ministry of His Britannic Majesty.] 

Fourthly, That the liberty of fishing, and of drying their cod- 
fish on the Banks of Newfoundland, may be confirmed to the 
French as heretofore ; and as this confirmation would be illusory 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 213 

if the French vessels had not a shelter in those parts appertaining 
to their nation, the King of Great Britain, in consideration of the 
guaranty of his new conquests, shall restore Isle Royal, or Cape 
Breton, to be enjoyed by France in entire sovereignty. It is agreed 
to fix a value on this restitution, that France shall not, under any 
denomination whatever, erect any fortifications on the island, and 
shall not bind herself to maintain a civil establishment there, and 
the port for the convenience of fishing vessels landing there. 

(From the answer of the British Court to the French Memorial 
of Propositions, July 29, 1761.) 

1. His Britannic Majesty will never recede from the entire and 
total cession, on the part of France, without any new limits, or 
any exception whatever, of all Canada with its appurtenances ; 
and His Majesty will never relax, with regard to the full and 
complete cession on the part of France, of the Isle of Cape Breton, 
and of the other islands in the Gulf and River of St. Lawrence, with 
the right of fishing which is inseparably incident to the possession 
of the aforesaid coasts, and of the canals or straits which lead to 
them. 

2. With respect to fixing the limits of Louisiana, with regard 
to Canada, or the English possessions situate on the Ohio, as also 
on the coast of Virginia, it never can be allowed that whatever 
does not belong to Canada shall appertain to Louisiana, nor that 
the boundaries of the last Province shall extend to Virginia, or 
to the British possessions on the borders of the Ohio ; the nations 
and countries which lie intermediate, and which form the true 
barriers between the aforesaid Provinces, not being proper, on any 
account, to be directly or by necessary consequence ceded to 
France, even admitting them to be included in the limits of Louis- 
iana. 

****** 

10. The demand of the restitution of the captures at sea before 
the declaration of war cannot be admitted, such a claim not being 
founded on any particular convention, and by no means resulting 
from the law of nations, as there is no principle more incontestable 



214 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

than this, viz., that the absolute right of all hostile operations does 
not result from a formal declaration of war, but from the hostili- 
ties which the aggressor had first offered. 

(From the Ultimatum of France in reply to that of England, 

August 5, 1761.) 

The King renews the declaration which he made to His Britan- 
nic Majesty, to the Memorial of Propositions for Peace, which has 
been transmitted to Mr. Stanley, and to which the Court of Eng- 
land has given no answer, either by word of mouth or in writing. 
His Majesty again declares that if the negotiations entered into at 
London, for the re-establishment of peace between the two Crowns, 
has not the desired success, all the articles agreed to in that nego- 
tiation by France cannot be represented, on any occasion, as set- 
tled points, any more than the memorial of the month of March 
last, relative to the Uti possidetis. 

" 1. The King consents to cede Canada to England in the most 
extensive manner, as specified in the Memorial of Propositions ; but 
His Majesty will not recedefrom the conditions he has annexed to the 
same memorial relative to the Catholic religion, and to the power, 
facility, and liberty of emigration for the ancient subjects of the 
King. With regard to the fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
the King means to maintain the immemorial right which his sub- 
jects have of fishing in the said gulf and of drying their fish on 
the Banks of Newfoundland, as it was agreed by the Treaty of 
Utrecht. As this privilege would be granted in vain if French 
vessels had not some shelter appertaining to France in the gulf, 
His Majesty proposed to the King of Great Britain the restitution 
of the Island of Cape Breton; he again proposes either that 
island, or such other port, without fortifications, in the gulf, as 
may serve the French as a shelter, and secure to France the 
liberty of fishing, from whence His Majesty has no intention to 
recede. 

" 2. The King has in no part of his Memorial of Propositions 
affirmed, that all that did not belong to Canada appertained to 
Louisiana : it were even difficult to conceive how such an asser- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 215 

tion could be advanced. France, on the contrary, demands that 
the intermediate nations between Canada and Louisiana, as also 
between Virginia and Louisiana, shall be considered as neutral 
nations, independent of the sovereignty of the two crowns, and 
serve as a barrier between them. If the English Minister would 
have attended to the instructions of M. Bussy on this subject, he 
would have seen that France agreed with England as to this pro- 
position." 

(Mr. Pitt to M. Bussy, August 15, 1761.,/ 

* * * It belongs, Sir, to Europe to judge whether this is the 
Court which has shown an aversion to peace, or whether it is not 
that which, after so many variations and delays on her part, arbi- 
trarily continues to insist on objects in America which we have a 
right to by the Uti possidetis, and which would make a direct at- 
tempt on the essential right of our conquests in Canada and its 
appurtenances in the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; which, in Germany, 
not only refuses to give up her conquests, gained over His Ma- 
jesty's allies, as a just compensation for the important restitutions 
with which His Majesty is willing to accommodate France, but 
even pretends to impose an obligation on His Majesty not to ful- 
fil the engagements of his Crown towards the King of Prussia ; 
which, moreover, not satisfied with throwing so many obstacles in 
the way of peace, has not scrupled to interpose new perplexities in 
opposition to this precious blessing, for which the nation sighs, by 
intermixing, too late, matters so foreign to the present negotiation 
between the two Crowns as to the discussions between Great Bri- 
tain and Spain. 

(From the answer of the British Minister to the Ultimatum of 
France, delivered to M. Bussy August 16, 1761.) 

His Most Christian Majesty having repeatedly declared, in the 
ultimatum of the Court of France, remitted to Mr. Pitt by M. 
Bussy, as well as in the Memorial of the Propositions of Peace, 
which was remitted by the Duke de Choiseul to Mr. Stanley, 
that if the negotiation entered into between the two Crowns has 



216 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

not the desired effect, all the articles conceded in that negotiation 
by France cannot be considered in any case as points agreed upon, 
any more than the memorial of the month of March last, in rela- 
tion to the Uti 'possidetis, the King declares, in return, that if the 
concessions His Majesty has made to bring about peace shall not 
be accepted by his Most Christian Majesty, the important restitu- 
tions offered to France, as well as the other circumstances herein- 
after expressed, cannot for the future be considered as given up. 

Article I. — The King will not desert his claim to the entire 
and total cession of all Canada and its dependencies, without any 
limits or exceptions whatever ; and likewise insists on the complete 
cession of the Island of Cape Breton, and of other islands in the 
Gulf and River St. Lawrence. 

Canada, according to the lines of its limits traced by the Mar- 
quis de Vaudreuil himself, when that Governor surrendered the 
said Province by capitulation to the British General, Sir J. Amherst, 
comprehends on one side the Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior; 
and the said line drawn to Red Lake takes in, by a serpentine 
progress, the river Ouabachi, as far as its junction with the Ohio, 
and from thence extends itself along the latter river as far, in- 
clusively, as its influx into the Mississippi.* 

It is in conformity to this state of the limits made by the French 
Governor, that the King claims the cession of Canada ; a Province 
which the Court of France, moreover, has offered anew by their 
ultimatum to cede to His Britannic Majesty, in the most extensive 
r manner } as expressed in the Memorial of Propositions of Peace 
of 13th July. 

As to what concerns the public profession and exercise of the 
Roman Catholic religion in Canada, the new subjects of His Bri- 
tannic Majesty shall be maintained in that privilege without in- 
terruption or molestation ; and the French inhabitants or others, 



* Vaudreuil denied, in a letter to the Due de Choiseul, October 2nd, 1761, that he 
had delivered such a map to General Amherst at the time of the capitulation. But he 
admitted that Canada extended, on one side, to the " carrying place of the Illinois, 
which is the height of land whose rivers run into the Ouabache, on one side, and on the 
other to the head waters of the Illinois." 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 21 7 

who may have been subjects of the Most Christian King in Canada 
shall have full power and liberty to sell their effects, provided 
they dispose of them to the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, and 
to transport their property, as well as their persons, without being 
restrained from their emigration, under any pretence whatever 
(unless in case of debt, or for the breach of criminal laws) ; it 
being always understood that the time granted for the said emi- 
gration shall be limited to the space of one year, to be computed 
from the day of the ratification of the definitive treaty. 

Article II. — As to what respects the line to be drawn from Rio- 
Perdido, as contained in the note remitted by M. Bussy, of the 
lbth of this month, with regard to the limits of Louisiana, His 
Majesty is obliged to reject so unexpected a proposition, as by no 
means admissible in two respects. 

1. Because the said line, under colour of fixing the limits of 
Louisiana, annexes vast countries to that Province, which, with 
the commanding posts and forts, the Marquis de Vaudreuil has, 
by the most solemn capitulation, incontestably yielded into the 
possession of His Britannic Majesty, under the description of Can- 
ada, and that consequently, however contentious the pretensions 
of the two Crowns may have been before the war, and particularly 
with respect to the course of the Ohio, and the territories in that 
part, since the surrender of Canada, and the line of its limits has 
been traced, as aforesaid, by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, all those 
opposite titles are united, and become valid without contradiction, 
to confirm to Great Britain, with all the rest of Canada, the pos- 
session of those countries on that part of Ohio which have hitherto 
been contested. 

2. The line proposed to fix the bounds of Louisiana cannot be 
admitted, because it would compromise in another part, on the 
side of the Carolinas, very extensive countries and numerous na- 
tions, who have always been reputed to be under the protection 
of the King, a right which His Majesty has no intention of re- 
nouncing ; and then the King, for the advantage of peace, might 
consent to leave the intermediate countries under the protection 
of Great Britain, and particularly the Cherokees, the Creeks, the 



218 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

Chicasaws, the Chactaws, and another nation, situate between the 
British settlements and the Mississippi. 

Article IV. — The important privilege granted by the 13th Ar- 
ticle of the Treaty of Utrecht, under certain limitations and re- 
strictions, to the subjects of France, for fishing and drying their 
cod fish on a certain part of the Banks of Newfoundland, has not 
been refused by Great Britain, but connected with a reciprocal 
satisfaction on the part of France, with regard to the indispensable 
object of Dunkirk, which the King has required, and still requires : 
it is, therefore, on condition that the town and port of Dunkirk 
shall be put in the condition it ought to have been in the last 
Treaty of Aix la Chapelle, that His Majesty consents to renew to 
France the privilege of fishing and of drying their fish, by virtue 
of the Treaty of Utrecht, upon the aforesaid district of Newfound- 
land. 

(Signed) H. Stanley. 

{From the last Memorial of France to England, delivered to Mr. 
Pitt by M. Bussy, Sept. 13, 1761.) 

The King accepts the declaration of the King of England con- 
tained in the preamble of the answer, and renews that which he 
before made to his Majesty on this head, in such manner that it 
is concluded between the two Courts finally and without ambigu- 
ity, that if peace is not the result of the present negotiation, all 
that has been said, written and negotiated between the two 
Crowns, since the memorial of the 26th of March inclusive to the 
moment of the rupture, shall be void and of no effect, and shall 
not be brought as an argument in favour of either of the parties, 
in any future negotiation of peace. 

Article I. — The King has declared in his first memorial, and in 
his ultimatum, that he will cede and guarantee to England the 
possession of Canada, in the most ample manner. His Majesty 
still persists in that offer, and without discussing the line of its 
limits marked on a map presented by Mr. Stanley ; as that line, 
on which England rests its demands, is without doubt the most 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 21 & 

extensive bound which can be given to the cession, the King is 
willing to grant it. 

His Majesty had annexed four conditions to his guaranty : it 
seems that England agrees to them ; only the King conceives that 
the term of one year for the sale of the French effects and for 
emigration is too short, and. his Majesty desires that it may be 
agreed to extend the term of one year to eighteen months at 
least. 

As the Court of England has added to the first article of its 
answer to the entire and total cession of Canada, as agreed be- 
tween the two courts, the word dependencies, it is necessary to 
give a specific explanation of this word, that the cession might 
not in the end occasion difficulties between the two Courts with 
regard to the meaning of the word dependencies. 

Article II. — The first paragraph, with regard to the limits of 
Louisiana, contained in the second article of the answer from 
England, is agreed to by France. The second paragraph is neither 
just nor explicit, and it is finally proposed to express in the fol- 
lowing terms: 

The intermediate savage nations between the lakes and the 
Mississippi, and within the line traced out, shall be neuter and 
independent, under the protection of the King, and those with- 
out the line, on the side of the English, shall likewise be neuter 
and independent, under the protection of England. The Eng- 
lish traders also shall be prohibited from going among the savage 
nations beyond the line, on either side ; but the said nations shall 
not be restrained in their freedom of commerce with the French 
and English, as they have exercised it heretofore. 

Article IV. — * * * England always endeavours to con- 
nect the liberty of fishing and drying codfish on part of the coast 
of Newfoundland, granted by the fifteenth article of the Treaty of 
Utrecht, with the ninth article of the same treaty, which stipu- 
lates the demolition of Dunkirk. It is given in answer to Eng- 
land for the fourth and last time, that the two stipulations of the 
Treaty of Utrecht have nothing in common between them, unless 
that they are both comprised in the said treaty ; and that the 



220 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

concession expressed in favour of the French in the thirteenth 
article of that treaty, is a compensation for the cession of New- 
foundland and Annapolis Royal, made on the part of France to 
England by the twelfth and thirteenth articles of the same 
treaty. 



CANADIAN ENTERPRISE IN THE NORTH-WEST AFTER 
THE CONQUEST. 

Sir Alexander Mackenzie, in his Account of the Rise, Progress, 
and Present State of the Fur Trade (1801), shows how the 
Canadian traders preceded the Hudson's Bay Company in the 
north-west. The following is abridged from his work, but is 
given in his own language : — 

" For some time after the conquest of Canada, this trade was 
suspended, which must have been very advantageous to the Hud- 
son's Bay Company, as all the inhabitants to the westward of 
Lake Superior were obliged to go to them for such articles as their 
habitual use had rendered necessary. Some of the Canadians 
who had lived long with them, and were become attached to a 
savage life, accompanied them thither annually, till mercantile 
adventurers again appeared from their own country, after an in- 
terval of several years. 

" It was so late as the year 1766, before which, the trade I mean 
to consider commenced from Michilimakinac. The first who at- 
tempted it were satisfied to go the length of the River Camenis- 
tiquia, where the French had a principal establishment, and was 
the line of their communication with the interior country. It 
was once destroyed by fire. Here they went and returned suc- 
cessful in the following spring to Michilimakinac. Their success 
induced them to renew their journey, and incited others to follow 
their example. Some of them remained at Camenistiquia, while 
others proceeded to and beyond the .Grand Portage, which since 
that time has become the principal entrepot of that trade, and is 
situated in a bay, in latitude 48° north, and longitude 90° west* 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 221 

After passing the usual season there, they went back to Michili- 
makinac as before, and encouraged by the trade, returned in in- 
creased numbers. One of these, Thomas Curry, with a spirit of 
enterprize superior to that of his contemporaries, determined to 
penetrate to the furthest limits of the French discoveries in that 
country ; or at least till the frost should stop him. For this pur- 
pose he procured guides and interpreters, who were acquainted 
with the country, and with four canoes arrived at Fort Bourbon, 
which was one of their posts, at the west end of the Cedar Lake, 
on the waters of the Saskatchiwine. His risk and toil were well 
recompensed, for he came back the following spring with his 
canoes filled with fine furs, with which he proceeded to Canada, 
and was satisfied never again to return to the Indian country. 

" From this period people began to spread over every part of 
the country, particularly where the French had established settle- 
ments. 

" Mr. James Finlay was the first who followed Mr. Curry's exam- 
ple, and, with the same number of canoes, arrived, in the course of 
the next season, at Nipawee, the last of the French settlements 
on the bank of the Saskatchiwine River, in latitude nearly 43 J° 
(53 J ?) north and longitude 103° west : he found the good fortune, 
as he followed, in every respect, the example of his predecessor. 

" As may be supposed, there were now people enough ready to 
replace them, and the trade was pursued with such avidity, and 
irregularity, that in a few years it became the reverse of what it 
ought to have been. An animated competition prevailed, and the 
contending parties carried the trade beyond the French limits, 
though with no benefit to themselves or neighbours, the Hudson's 
Bay Company ; who, in the year 1774, and not till then, thought 
proper to move from home to the east bank of Sturgeon Lake, in 
latitude 53° 56' north and longitude 102° 15' west, and became 
more jealous of their fellow-subjects, and, perhaps, with more 
cause, than they had been of those of France. From this period 
to the present time, they have been following the Canadians to 
their different establishments, while, on the contrary, there is not 



222 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

a solitary instance that the Canadians have followed them ; and 
there are many trading posts which they have not yet attained. 

" This competition, which has been already mentioned, gave a 
fatal blow to the trade from Canada, and, with other incidental 
causes, in my opinion, contributed to its ruin. 

" Thus was the trade carried on for several years, and conse- 
quently becoming worse and worse, so that the partners, who met 
them at the Grand Portage, naturally complained of their ill- 
success. 

" It was about this time, that Mr. Joseph Frobisher, one of the 
gentlemen engaged in the trade, determined to penetrate into the 
country yet unexplored, to the north and westward, and, in the 
spring of the year 1775, met the Indians from that quarter on 
their way to Fort Churchill, at Portage de Traits, so named from 
that circumstance on the banks of the Missinipi, or Churchill 
River, latitude 55° 25' north, longitude 103^° west. It was, in- 
deed, with some difficulty that he could induce them to trade with 
him, but he at length procured as many furs as his canoes could 
carry. He then sent his brother to explore the country still 
further west, who penetrated as far as the lake of Isle a la Crosse, 
in latitude 55° 26' north and longitude 108° west. 

" The success of this gentleman induced others to follow his ex- 
ample, and in the spring of the year 1778, some of the traders on 
the Saskatchiwine River, finding they had a quantity of goods to 
spare, agreed to put them into a joint stock, and gave the charge 
and management of them to Mr. Peter Pond, who, in four canoes, 
was directed to enter the English River, so called by Mr. Fro- 
bisher, to follow his track, and proceed still further ; if possible, ' 
to Athabasca, a country hitherto unknown but from Indian re- 
port. In this enterprize he at length succeeded, and pitched his 
tent on the banks of the Elk River, by him erroneously called the 
Athabasca River, about thirty miles from the Lake of the Hills, 
into which it empties itself. 

" Here he passed the winter of 1778^9 ; saw a vast concourse of 
the Knisteneaux and Chepewyan tribes, who used to carry their 
furs annually to Churchill ; the latter by the barren grounds, 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 223 

where they suffered innumerable hardships, and were sometimes 
even starved to death. The former followed the course of the 
]akes and rivers, through a country that abounded in animals, and 
where there was plenty of fish : but though they did not suffer 
from want of food, the intolerable fatigue of such a journey could 
not be easily repaid to an Indian : they were, therefore, highly 
gratified by seeing people come to their country to relieve them 
from such long, toilsome, and dangerous journeys ; and were im- 
mediately reconciled to give an advanced price for the articles 
necessary to their comfort and convenience. Mr. Pond's reception 
and success was accordingly beyond his expectation ; and he 
procured twice as many furs as his canoes would carry. 

" These, however, . were but partial advantages, and could not 
prevent the people of Canada from seeing the improper conduct 
of some of their associates, which rendered it dangerous to remain 
any longer among the natives. 

" About the same time, two of the establishments on the Assini- 
boin River were attacked ; and nothing but the greatest calamit} T 
that could have befallen the natives, saved the traders from de- 
struction : this was the small-pox, which spread its destructive 
and desolating power, as the fire consumes the dry grass of the 
field. The fatal infection spread around with a baneful rapidity 
which no flight could escape, and with a fatal effect that nothing 
could resist. 

" The consequence of this melancholy event to the traders must 
be self-evident : the means of disposing of their goods were cut 
off; and no furs were obtained but such as had been gathered 
from the habitations of the deceased Indians, which could not be 
very considerable ; nor did they look from the losses of the pre- 
sent year with any encouraging expectations to those which were 
to come. The only fortunate people consisted of a party who 
had again penetrated to the northward and westward in 1780, at 
some distance up the Missinipi, or English River, to Lake la 
Rouge. Two unfortunate circumstances, however, happened to 
them, which are as follow : 

" Mr. Wadin, a Swiss gentleman, of strict probity and known 



224 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

sobriety, had gone there in the year 1779, and remained during 
the summer of 1780. 

" The other circumstance was this. In the spring of the year, 
Mr. Pond sent the clerk to meet the Indians from the northward, 
who used to go annually to Hudson's Bay ; when he easily per- 
suaded them to trade with him, and return back, that they might 
not take the contagion which had depopulated the country to the 
eastward of them ; but most unfortunately they caught it here, 
and carried it with them, to the destruction of themselves and the 
neighbouring tribes. 

" The country being thus depopulated, the traders and their 
friends from Canada, who, from various causes already mentioned, 
were very much reduced in number, became confined to two par- 
ties, who began seriously to think of making permanent establish- 
ments on the Missinipi River, and at Athabasca ; for which pur- 
pose, 1781-2, they selected their best canoe-men, being ignorant 
that the small-pox penetrated that way. The most expeditious 
party got only in time to the Portage la Loche, or Mithy-Ouinigam 
Portage, which divides the waters of the Missinipi from those that 
fall into the Elk River, to dispatch one canoe strong-handed, and 
light-loaded, to that country; but, on their arrival there, they 
found, in every direction, the ravages of the small-pox ; so that, 
from the great diminution of the natives^ they returned in the 
spring with no more than seven packages of beaver. The strong- 
woods and mountainous countries afforded a refuge to those who 
fled from the contagion of the plains ; but they were so alarmed 
at the surrounding destruction, that they avoided the traders, and 
were dispirited from hunting except for their subsistence. The 
traders, however, who returned into the country in the year 
1782-3, found the inhabitants in some sort of tranquillity, and 
more numerous than they had reason to expect, so that their 
success was proportionably better. 

" During the winter of 1783-4, the merchants of Canada engaged 
in this trade formed a junction of interests, under the name of the 
North-West Company, and divided it into sixteen shares, without 
depositing any capital; each party furnishing a proportion or 



UNSETTLED BOUNDAEIES OF ONTAEIO. 225 

quota of such articles as were necessary to carry on the trade : 
the respective parties agreeing to satisfy the friends they had in 
the country, who were not provided for according to this agree- 
ment, out of the proportions which they held." 



EXTENT OF COUNTRY WHICH THE NORTH-WEST 
COMPANY OCCUPIED. 

The extent of country which the North- West Company con- 
tinued to occupy, after the year 1791, is a point of great import- 
ance. Mr. David Thompson, astronomer and surveyor of that 
company, commenced in 1796 to survey the position of its posts, 
some of which had been placed as far south as the source of the 
Mississippi, or even further, when that point was supposed to be 
the northern boundary of the United States. But when the 49° 
became the boundary line, it was necessary to ascertain what 
posts were on the south of it, as the company would be required 
to vacate them. Mr. Thompson had previously been in the em- 
ploy of the Hudson Bay Company ; but the aversion of that 
organization to new discoveries caused him to accept employment 
under the North-West Company, when his first engagement had 
expired. In the summer of 1795, he had, with no other aid than 
that of two young Indians, who knew nothing about the country 
to be travelled over, and one Irishman, made his way from the 
shores of Hudson's Bay to the east end of Athabaska Lake. He 
has left behind him a manuscript, giving an account of his travels, 
when he determined the position of the North- West Company's 
posts ; and it is of great importance as showing exactly what ex- 
tent of country was still held by that company, the successor of 
the original discoverers of the north-west, some of whose posts it 
still continued to keep oip. This country, so held, and of which 
the Hudson's Bay Company had not taken possession, had not 
ceased to be part of Canada at a period later than 1791. I shall 
follow Mr. Thompson's MS. closely ; and it may be advisable to 

15 



226 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

resort to some details connected with this official survey of the 
country, on account of the great importance of the subject. 

After returning from Athabaska, Mr. Thompson was informed 
by a letter from Mr. Joseph Colen, the resident at York Factory, 
with whose sanction the expedition to Athabaska Lake had been 
undertaken, that he could not sanction any more surveys, what- 
ever might be the extent of the territory still unknown to the 
H. B. Company. Mr. Thompson's term of service had expired, 
and his thirst for further discoveries determined him to seek 
employment from the North-West Company, composed of Cana- 
dian merchants, and carrying on their traffic with the Indians 
from Lake Superior. Accompanied by two Indians, he proceeded 
to the nearest trading-house of that company, which was under 
the charge of Mr. Alexander Frazer ; and thence, by the usual 
canoe route, to the great carrying-place on the north shore of 
Lake Superior, then the dep6t of the company's treasures : of 
merchandize from Montreal and furs from the interior. The 
agents of the company, the Hon. Wm. McGillivray and Sir Alex- 
ander McKenzie, were also partners ; men of enlarged views : one 
of them had already crossed the Rocky Mountains, by the Peace 
River, and had proceeded far by the Frazer towards the Pacific 
Ocean, when the hostility of the natives and want of provisions 
had obliged him to return, and who was destined to make dis^ 
coveries in these countries that would render his name immortal. 

The services of Mr. Thompson were very acceptable to these 
gentlemen. They desired to learn the position of their trading- 
houses, with respect to one another, and also to the 49° of north 
latitude, become, since the Treaty of 1792, the boundary line 
between Canada and the United States, from the north-west 
corner of the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, in lieu 
of a line from the former point to the head of the Mississippi, as 
designated by the Treaty of 1783. The source of the Mississippi 
was then known only to the Indians and a few fur traders, and 
was supposed to be further north than the Lake of the Woods. 
Mr. Thompson was instructed to survey the 49th parallel of lati- 
tude, to go as far as the Missouri River, visit the ancient villages 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 227 

of the agricultural natives who dwelt there, to enquire for the 
fossils of large animals, and to search for any monuments that 
might throw light on the ancient state of the countries to be 
travelled over and examined. He received orders on all the 
agents and trading-posts of the company for men and whatever 
else he might require. This liberality and display of public spirit 
he could not help contrasting with the stinginess of the Hudson 
Bay Company, who had done little in the way of discovery which 
had not been forced on them by the demands of the British 
Government. 

But the way in which it performed this duty was calculated to 
conceal the very knowledge which it was desired to obtain. It 
had, in 1785, been requested to send out a competent person to 
ascertain the latitude and longitude of the west end of Athabaska 
Lake. Mr. Peter Pond, one of the clerks of the North- West Com- 
pany, who had wintered three years at Fort Chippewayan, on the 
north side of Athabaska Lake, had made a rough map of the 
country, which placed the west end of Athabaska Lake near the 
Pacific Ocean. If this were true, the route across the continent, 
at this point, might be made available for one purpose or another. 
Pond had taken his distances from the supposititious leagues of 
the canoe-men, which Mr. Thompson found to average only two 
miles each. The agents of the company sent a copy of this map 
to Sir Hugh Dalrymple, who was then in office ; and he, by com- 
paring it with the charts of Captain Cook, found that it brought 
the west end of Athabaska Lake within less than one hundred 
miles of the Pacific Ocean. This was the point which the British 
Government required the company to determine by actual 
survey. 

And Mr. Thompson relates how the company performed this 
duty. It sent out a boy, fifteen years of age, first making him 
an apprentice for seven years, of the name of George Charles. 
Having spent one year at a mathematical school, and, armed with 
a quadrant, had thrine performed the feat of bringing down the 
sun to a chalk line on a wall, he was forthwith pronounced com- 
petent for the duty required. The result of entrusting this lad 



228 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

with a duty which he was quite incompetent to discharge, was to 
keep from the Colonial Office the required knowledge for five 
years ; and it was not till 1790 that it was obliged, by the pressing 
instance of the Colonial Department, to send out a properly qualified 
person, Mr. Philip Turner, by whom the desired information was 
obtained. 

This Peter Pond, who had so inaccurately laid down the west 
end of Athabaska Lake, was a violent and unprincipled character, 
became implicated in the death of Mr. floss, a fur trader, and was 
afterwards accused as principal in the murder of Mr. Wadden, 
another fur trader. He was sent to Quebec, to be tried on the 
latter charge ; but was released on the ground that the jurisdiction 
of the court did not extend to these distant territories. Being 
set at liberty, he went to Boston, Massachusetts, his native 
city, in 1792. Next year brought peace between the thirteen 
old colonies and England. The British Commissioners, who 
had to deal with the boundary question, were ignorant of 
the geography of the country beyond Lake Ontario ; and they 
had but wretched assistance for their guidance in the shape of 
maps ; one of them, by Farren, dated 1773, stopped short in any 
actual information at Toronto ; the whole country to the west 
being represented as alternations of rock and swamp, and unin- 
habitable. Mitchell's was somewhat better, and was the best to 
which they had access. The American Commissioners had Pond 
at their elbow ; and though his knowledge of the true position of 
places was extremely inaccurate, he had much knowledge of the 
value of the interior countries. Pond is said to have designated 
to the American Commissioners a boundary line through the 
middle of the Upper St. Lawrence and the lakes, and through the 
interior countries to the north-west corner of the Lake of the 
Woods, and thence west to the Mississippi ; a line that was ac- 
cepted by the British Commissioners. 

Before proceeding to give an account of Mr. Thompson's survey 
of the boundary line, we must trace the route of the North- West 
Company of those days from Lake Superior to Winnipeg. In 
August, 1796, Mr. Thompson started from the south-east end of 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 229 

the Great Carrying Place, on Lake Superior, latitude 47° 58' 1" 
north, longitude 89° 44' 20" west of Greenwich. To this point 
came the canoes from Montreal, each one carrying from forty to 
forty-five pieces of merchandize, each piece weighing from ninety 
to one hundred pounds, besides spirituous liquors ; the return 
cargoes consisting of furs. Then the merchandize was made into 
assorted packages of ninety pounds each. The canoes destined to 
carry them into the interior were of less capacity, but each one 
was capable of carrying twenty-five pieces, besides the necessary 
provisions fer the voyage and the baggage of the men ; making 
altogether a weight of about 2,900 lbs. ; to which add five men, 
and the complete canoe load will reach 3,700 lbs. 

These moved in brigades of four to eight canoes, to different 
points in the interior country. That on which Mr. Thompson 
embarked contained four, and was under charge of Mr. Hugh 
McGillis ; the day of starting being August 9, 1796. His instru- 
ments consisted of a sextant of ten inches radius, with quicksilver 
and parallel glasses, an excellent achromatic telescope, one of a 
smaller kind, drawing instruments and thermometers ; all by 
Dolland. They proceeded over the Great Carrying Place, which 
takes a north-west direction from the starting point, and is eight 
miles and twenty yards long, to Pidgeon River. This point is 
about three hundred feet above Lake Superior. These eight 
miles odd consumed five days — days of severe labour to the men 
From Pidgeon River to the height of land the distance is thirty- 
eight miles, in which there are twelve carrying places which are 
together five-and-a-half miles of the distance. The height of 
land to which we have now come is in latitude 48° 6' 43" north, 
longitude 90° 34' 38" west, variation six degrees east. South-east 
from this dividing ridge, the streams run into Lake Superior, 
north-east by east into Lake Winnipeg, and thence into Hudson's 
Bay. 

The country passed over in the forty-eight miles between here 
and Lake Superior contains many brooks and small lakes of good 
clear water, and parts of it seem adapted for pasturage. 

The country now declines to the north-east, and is intersected 



230 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

by many streams, having the same direction : they collect finally 
into a fine river. Rainy Lake is a fine body of water, nine or ten 
miles in length, and emptying into Rainy River by a descent of 
about ten feet. Here, below this fall, stood a trading-house of 
the North-West Company, in latitude 48° 36' 58" north, longitude 
93° 19' 30" west. The distance from the height of land to this 
point is one hundred and seventeen miles. The country is more 
favourable for agriculture than the previous section from Pidgeon 
River to the height of land ; and " in several places good farms 
can be made." Rainy River is a fine stream, about two hundred 
yards wide, interrupted in its course by only one rapid ; at the 
foot of which, in the season, the natives spear, or used to spear, 
many fine sturgeon. By this river we travel fifty miles and a 
half to the Lake of the Woods. The banks present all the ap- 
pearance of a country capable of cultivation ; but the rock lies at 
no great distance from the surface. The Lake of the Woods is 
thirty-two and a half miles long, and it contains many bays. Its 
area may be estimated at about eight hundred square miles, over 
which are scattered many islets. The north-east shores are of 
granite ; the western, of limestone, touch on the great alluvial. 

The Lake of the Woods is memorable in geographical and dip- 
lomatic history. It has been the starting point in every treaty 
of the boundary line between the Dominion of Great Britain and 
the territories of the United States. It is the southernmost lake 
of the Stony Region ; the first that having limestone on its west- 
ern side, has granite, greenstone and clay slate on the north and 
the east. 

Out of this lake flows the River Winnipeg (sea river) in a north- 
eastern direction, into Lake Winnipeg. It is a bold deep stream 
about three hundred yards in width, contains many isles, and has 
thirty -two falls and several channels. It is of granite formation 
throughout its whole course of one hundred and twenty-five miles. 
At the point of its entrance into Lake Winnipeg, the North-West 
Company had a trading-house, which owed its origin to the French. 
Its position was latitude 50° 37' 46" north, longitude 95° 59' 34" 
west, variation nine degrees east. Though the falls are so numer- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 231 

ous, the aggregate length of the carrying places is only three 
miles. 

From Grand Portage to Lake Winnipeg the country was probably 
never rich in fur-bearing animals ; and it has now long since been 
exhausted as a hunting ground either for fur-bearing or food-pro- 
ducing animals, but few of either remaining. The natives, who 
are Chippeways, drew their chief means of subsistence from the 
waters : sturgeon, white-fish, pike, mackerel, and carp being the 
principal kinds of fish found there. Winnipeg House was an im- 
portant depot of provisions, which were brought in canoes from 
the bison countries that surround the Red "River (of the north) 
and the Saskatchewan, and distributed to the canoes and boats 
for the several wintering places on Lake Winnipeg. Red River 
enters the lake at a distance of forty-two miles from Winnipeg 
House; further north the Dauphin contributes its waters, and at 
the north-west corner of the lake the Saskatchewan, in latitude 
53° 43' 45", longitude 98° 31' west, comes in on its way to Hud- 
son's Bay. This lake receives many lesser streams both on the 
east and the west. All these waters were valuable as highways 
for fur traders. From Winnipeg House to the lower end of the 
Saskatchewan, the western coast line, which runs north thirty- 
six degrees west, is two hundred and thirty-one miles ; the eastern 
side is longer, being about two hundred and seventeen miles ; the 
width at either end is about forty-five miles. The area of this 
lake, with its islands, is about ten thousand and eighty square 
miles. The woods all round the lake are composed of small trees, 
full of branches. Neither deer nor other animals were abundant 
but the waters abounded with good fish. 

Mr. Thompson set out from Winnipeg House, coasting along 
the limestone shores of the lake, mostly low. but sometimes form- 
ing cliffs fifty feet high, to the mouth of the Dauphin River. 
The course in a straight line was north 43° west, one hundred 
and twenty-seven miles. He then proceeded up the Dauphin 
River, which is about thirty yards wide and three deep, and runs 
through a forest. Both the soil and the timber improved in 
quality as we proceeded, but deer and beaver are scarce. The gen- 



232 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

eral course for the first eight miles was south by west ; but there 
were many turnings in the river. This brought us to the Mea- 
dow Carrying Place, two thousand seven hundred and sixty yards 
long, which took him to Lake Winepagos (the little sea). It 
would have been practicable to reach the lake by continuing on 
the river ; but it was so circuitous as to cause the Carrying Place 
to be preferred. On this lake we went a distance of fifty-nine 
miles to Swan River, a small stream only about fifteen yards wide 
and three deep, and which runs with a gentle current through a 
fine country. We are |now among low hills and the heights ; 
which the deer, after spending the summer there, are beginning 
to leave. Beaver now become plentiful. 

Having proceeded twelve miles up the river, he came to Swan 
River House, of the North-west Company, in latitude 52° 24' 5" 
north, longitude 100° 36' 52", variation 13° east. There were but 
two families of the native tribe to whom those countries belong, 
Nathaways. Several Chippeways had lately come from the south, 
their own country being exhausted of beaver and deer. 

From Swan River (date September 26, 17%) we proceed with 
horses across the country, to the Stone Indian River, on which 
the North- West Company have several trading-houses, to the 
upper house, in charge of Mr. Cuthbert Grant ; course forty de- 
grees and a half west ninety miles ; most of the way through fine 
forests, the ground being very good for the horses, except a few 
pieces of wet meadow, and even here they did not sink ankle deep. 

We now make for the trading-house in charge of M. Belleau, be- 
tween Swan River and Stone Indian River, which by observation 
is found to be in latitude 51° 51' 9", longitude 102° 3' west ; course 
for the last thirty miles having been north twelve degrees west 
This stretch contains much wet ground and ponds occasioned by 
beaver dams. We now return and proceed to the upper trading- 
house, in charge of Mr. Hugh McGillis, latitude 52° 59' 7", longi- 
tude 102° 32' 27", on a course north ten degrees east, a distance of 
one hundred and eleven miles in a direct line ; the travelled dis- 
tance, owing to the detours occasioned by the beaver ponds, being 
one hundred and fifty miles. These animals held full possession 



UNSETTLED BOUNDAEIES OF ONTAKIO. 23S 

of the country; but they were being rapidly destroyed. All these 
trading houses of the North- West Company were on the south 
side of the range of hills which border on the great plains. 

These countries were the hunting grounds of the Nathaway 
Indians. Mr. Thompson was disappointed in not finding nume- 
rous mineral springs in a country having such variety of hill and 
plain, forest and prairie ; beyond the saline brooks of the Red 
River, from which even then salt was obtained by evaporation, he 
learned of none. 

The Nepissings, Algonquins, and Iroquois, their own countries 
being exhausted of animals, spread themselves over this country, 
with destructive march, so far as the beaver was concerned, north- 
ward and westward, meeting no molestation from the native Nath- 
aways. The Chippeways and other tribes used the fatally baited 
steel- trap.* While the great beaver harvest lasted, the Indians 
were rich ; and they all, men, women and children, made a bar- 
baric display of their wealth, in the use of silver brooches, ear- 
rings, wampum, beads and other trinkets. They wore fine scarlet 
cloth mantles, and sported other absurd fineries in dress. The 
canoes of the fur traders were loaded with beaver packs ; and the 
supply outran the demand so far as to bring down the price in the 
London market. But neither the inflated prosperity nor the ex- 
cess of production could last long. Over countries of such vast 
extent as these, four years sufficed almost to complete the work of 
destruction. The Indians fell back into worse than their original 
poverty. 

Mr. Thompson proceeded to the trading-house in charge of Mr. 
Thornburn, in latitude 50° 28' 58", longitude 101° 45' 45". Having 
determined the position of this place, he went down the Stone 
Indian River to the house in charge of Mr. John McDonell, lati- 
tude 49° 40' 56", longitude 99° 27' 15", the course being south by 
east, and the distance in a straight line one hundred and thirty- 
one miles. This river is about thirty yards in width, and, as it 
derives its water from the rains and snows, is of varying depth, 
according to the seasons. Its course is on the east side of the 

* The bait was castorum, and was quite irresistible. 



I>34- UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

great plains and the west side of the low hills, whence it receives 
several brooks, and from the plains of Calling River a few. In 
addition to its being alwaj^s shoal in autumn, its course is very 
sinuous. The Stone Indian River everywhere runs through 
an agreeable country with a good soil, well adapted for agriculture. 

The bison, the moose, the red deer, and two species of antelope, 
here gave the Nathaways an easy means of subsistence. 

The Stone Indians, a numerous tribe of the Sioux nation, pos- 
sessed the country south and west of this river to the Missouri ; 
but the more southerly and western parts they shared in common 
with several other tribes. 

Mr. Thompson's journals, surveys and sketches having been 
translated out of crayon into ink, and there being nothing more to 
be done there, he set out from Mr. McDonell's, on a winter's jour- 
ney, for the Mandan villages, on the banks of the Missouri, this 
28th November, 1797. The guide and interpreter, Monsieur Rene' 
Jussomme, had resided eight years in those villages, and spoke the 
Mandan language with fluency. There were also in the party Mr. 
Hugh McCracken, a good-hearted Irishman, who had been to the 
villages many times, and even resided there for weeks and months ; 
seven French Canadians, good-humoured fellows, willing to hunt 
for the means of securing their greatest enjoyment — eating — who 
possessed not the least tincture of education, and did not see its value. 
All these, except Mr. Thompson's servant man, A. Brossman, 
were for the time free traders, on their own account, each of 
them having taken from Mr. McDonell, on credit, a venture in 
goods to the value of forty to sixty skins, to be paid for in kind. 
Having been supplied with ammunition, tobacco and trinkets to 
pay expenses on the way, Mr. Thompson provided with two 
horses, and Mr. Jussomme with one, the men having their own dogs, 
to the number of thirty, to haul their goods on flat sleds, every- 
thing was now ready for the journey. The half- wolf dogs had all 
been obtained in trade from the Stone Indians, by whom num- 
bers are kept in their encampments. These brutes are extremely 
voracious. 

After thirty-three days' travel, with the thermometer nearly 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 235 

always below zero, and sometimes descending to 36° below, 
having encountered high winds and blinding snow-drifts, de- 
pending chiefly on the precarious chase for means of subsistence, 
and sometimes being in danger from hostile Indians, the party 
arrived at the village of the Fall Indians, lat. 47° 25' 11", long. 101° 
21' 5", the whole distance travelled in that time being two hundred 
and eighty miles. 

Although few of the Mandans had guns, they had already re- 
ceived some from trading parties of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
who had probably straggled through the country in a favourable 
season, much as the men belonging to Mr. Thompson's party were 
doing, or more likely they obtained them from traders they had 
met at a distance from their villages. This does not prove that 
that Company had any substantial occupation of this part of the 
country. The lower village of the Mandans was found to be in 
lat. 47° 17' 22", long. 101° 14' 24", variation ten degrees east. 

The road from the Mandan villages to Stone Indian River 
House, travelled by Mr. Thompson, may be thus divided. Follow- 
ing from one piece of woods to another, where fuel and shelter 
could alone be obtained, the course to the Dog Tent Hill, north 
28° east, was fifty miles ; thence to the elbow of the Mouse River, 
north 49° east, twenty miles ; thence to the south end of Turtle 
Hill, north 9° west, fourteen miles ; thence to the Ash House, on 
Mouse River, north 3° west, twenty-four miles ; thence to the 
house of Mr. McDonell, north 69° east, forty-five miles. A straight 
line between the two extreme points would run north 26° east, 
one hundred and eighty-eight miles. 

Mr. Thompson spent three weeks in calculating the astronomical 
observations made in the late journey. Stone Indian River House 
was, by a series of observations, found to be in latitude 49° 40' 56", 
longitude 99° 27' 15", variation eleven degrees east. 

On the 26th February, 1798, Mr. Thompson took leave of his 
hospitable friend, Mr. John McDonell, by whom he was furnished 
with everything necessary for his journey of survey. He was 
accompanied by three Canadians and an Indian guide, and six 
dogs hauled three sleds laden with provisions and baggage. The 



$ 

236 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

course was sometimes on the ice of the Stone Indian River, but, to 
avoid its windings, mostly on the north side. In the afternoon 
the Manito Hills were^reached — a long, low ridge of sand knolls, 
steep on the west side, sloping more gradually on the east, grow- 
ing only a few patches of grass, and retaining no snow during the 
whole winter ; which phenomenon the Indians regard as preter- 
natural, and fix that idea in the name. Except the sand ridge, 
the country is very fine, especially at the junction of the Mouse 
River, about half a mile below the trading-house. 

As the journey proceeded day after day, the snow was found to 
increase in depth, and it was no easy task to beat a path for the 
dogs and sleds ; the snow shoes of the foremost man sinking six 
inches at every step. The guide became so fatigued that he had 
to be relieved two or three hours every day. 

On the 7th March he arrived at [the junction of Stone Indian 
with Red River, in latitude 49° 53' 1", longitude 97°, variation 
nine degrees east. In a straight line the course is north 82° east, 
one hundred and twelve miles; the windings of the river are 
more than three times this distance, and the distance travelled 
was one hundred and sixty-nine miles. 

On the 7th March, 1798, Mr. Thompson began the survey of 
the Red River, and on the 14th he arrived at the trading-house 
of the North- West Company, under charge of Monsieur Char- 
les Chaboiller, by whom the party were kindly received. The 
travelling during these eight days was very difficult. The snow 
was fully three feet deep, and the surface of the river ice was 
covered by water, the weather being mild, with showers of rain. 
The snow, mixed with water, stuck to the sleds, and made it 
impossible for the dogs to haul them. Many times a couple of 
men had to assist the dogs in extricating them. In wet weather 
everything was soaked and had to be dried. To beat the road 
was slavish work. Ankles and knees were sprained by the 
weight of wet snow that adhered to the snow shoes ; and the dif- 
ficulty was increased by the long grass that had to be walked 
over. Mr. Thompson had to take the place of the guide. He 
tied a string to the toe of each snow-shoe, and holding the oppo- 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 237 

site ends in his hands, lifted them out of the soft snow. In this 
way, with his gun slung on his back, the party marched on the 
west side of the river. The whole distance was over long prairie 
grass, very difficult to walk among. The only trees were of oak, 
ash, alder and nutwood; but the numerous charred stumps 
afforded evidence that on this side of the river had once grown a 
pine forest. In the more northern regions the pines, when de- 
stroyed by fire, have been succeeded by aspens, poplars and alders ; 
but along the Bed River the excellence of the soil and the mild- 
ness of the climate made the successors of the pines similarly de- 
stroyed, oak, ash, alder and nutwood. 

At this trading-house, where he arrived on the 14th, Mr.Thomp- 
son remained six days. He determined its position to be latitude 
48° 58' 24", longitude 97° 16' 40", variation of the compass eight 
and a half degrees east, being one minute and thirty-six seconds 
south of the United States boundary line, which Mr. Thompson 
pointed out, in order that the trading-house might be removed 
beyond it. This line was, several years later, confirmed by Major 
Long, of the united corps of engineers.* From the junction of the 
Stone Indian with the Red River it is south eleven degrees and a 



* Nothing could be more unscientific than the mode in which the exploration of the 
country between Fort William and Red River, undertaken at great expense by the 
Canadian Government some years ago, was conducted. The expedition, which was 
under the charge of Mr. George Gladman, did not establish the position of a single 
point along the entire route ; and the map compiled from their labours, without la- 
titudes and longitudes, is as useless as a history without dates. The instructions 
were drawn up in the Secretary's office, where the necessary scientific knowledge was 
most likely wanting. Mr. Gladman undertook to pronounce " the communication 
by Winnipeg River as of no practical utility," on what appears to have been very 
slender knowledge. The navigation is sufficiently interrupted, but it used to be util- 
ized by the North- West Company. The length of this river is greatly exaggerated 
in Mr. Dawson's estimate. He puts it at 160 miles ; its true length, ascertained by 
careful survey, being only 125. Mr. Napier, another of the party, speaks of the 
great saving there would be by a line across the country, which would avoid the 
ditour of the Winnipeg River ; but his direct line is estimated at 116 miles, which is 
within nine miles of the true length of Winnipeg River, and is therefore pretty cer- 
tainly in excess of the truth. Mr. Dawson estimates the saving by the land route 
at one hundred and forty miles, which is manifestly an exaggeration. The land 
route is the shortest, and it was desirable to avoid the difficult navigation of the 
Winnipeg River, but it was also desirable that distances should be accurately stated 



238 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

quarter west, sixty-five and a half statute miles ; to the boundary 
line sixty-four miles. 

The number of Indians (Chippeways) who traded at this house 
was ninety -five men ; and supposing every one of them to repre- 
sent a family of seven souls, we have an aggregate of 665. At 
Rainy River House, in latitude 48° 36' 58", longitude 93° 19' 30", 
in a course hence south eighty-two degrees east, a distance of one 
hundred and eighty-four miles, sixty of the same tribe traded, re- 
presenting four hundred and twenty more. If we divide the fam- 
ilies by the mileage of the hunting-ground, every seven souls will 
be found to have had a hunting-ground of one hundred and fifty 
to one hundred and eighty square miles. And yet they had very 
little provisions to spare ; proof that this part of the country did 
not even then abound in wild animals. This circumstance would 
furnish a reason why the Hudson's Bay Company would not 
care to extend their operations there. The beaver had be- 
come scarce ; not being obliged to use the same hard materials in 
building his house as are necessary further north, this animal had 
been a comparatively easy prey to the Indian. In summer, these 
Indians subsist on fish, and in autumn, part of them on wild rice. 

and the positions of the principal points on the route laid down ; but this exploring 
party established no positions, and their estimates of distances want every guarantee 
of accuracy. Professor Hind gives the length of the Lake of the Woods at seventy- 
two miles, which is more than twice the true distance (thirty-two and a half miles), 
and he says its breadth is equal to its length. This difference is not to be explained 
by a different view of what waters constitute the Lake of the Woods ; for from Rainy 
River, in the south, to Winnipeg River, in the north, the measured distance is only 
thirty-two and a half miles. He gives the distance between Lake Superior and the 
Lake of the Woods, by the Pidgeon River route, at 381 miles ; but as he does not give 
any starting point on Lake Superior, it is difficult to check the estimate. From the 
Grand Portage the distance is only twenty yards more than 213i ; but Mr. Hind pro- 
bably intended that Fort William should be the starting point. Mr. Dawson confesses 
that part of his map was made from a sketch taken on the way, with no latitudes or 
longitudes to guide him ; that another part is copied from Indian charts, and is there- 
fore of the same value with descriptions given by Indians at Tadousac, to the French, 
two and a half centuries ago, of the country west of Lake Ontario ; that a third part 
is reduced from the boundary survey ; and that Mr. 'Wells is responsible for the fancy 
sketch of Winnipeg River, which stops about half way, and looks like a broken tomb- 
stone. At a mere trifle of cost to the North-West Company, Mr. Thompson did far 
more work than this whole party, and infinitely better. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 239 

The Red River is here one hundred and twenty yards wide. 
Eleven miles further down it receives the waters of the Reed 
River, from the eastward. It is about the same width, but less 
deep. This part of the river is called Pembina, from a small 
stream that comes in. The deep rich soil of the Red River is 
everywhere fit for cultivation. 

York Factory, on Hudson Bay, was distant, north twenty-four 
degrees east, six hundred and sixteen miles in a straight line, 
and not less than nine hundred miles by the only practicable 
route. The obstructions occasioned by carrying places would 
greatly lengthen the time and labour of the voyage. 

On the 21st March, Mr. Thompson and party started on their 
journey down the banks of the river, and on the 25th arrived at 
the North-west Company's house, under charge of Monsieur Bap- 
tiste Cadotte, latitude 47° 54/ 21", longitude 96° 19', variation 10° 
east. The weather was fine during the journey, and the frosts of 
night made the snow firm several hours of the day. In some 
places there was a fine border of woods' along the river, from 
thirty to three hundred yards wide. Among the varieties were 
oak, ash, elm and basswood ; the aspens became more frequent. 
There is a fine rich, deep soil the whole distance. 

On the 9th April, the Red River being clear of ice, Mr. Thomp- 
son left the trading-house in charge of M. Cadotte, whither he had 
returned, in a canoe eighteen feet long, accompanied by three 
Canadians and a native woman, the wife of one of the men, pro- 
vided with a stock of twelve days' provisions. The obj ect of the 
expedition was to survey the country to the source of the Missis- 
sippi River. There was a choice of two routes : that direct to 
Red Lake, where the current was moderate, but liable to be en- 
cumbered with ice from the lake ; or Clear Water River, where 
the current was swift, but where there was no fear of ice. The 
latter was chosen, and a slow progress up it commenced. This 
river was fifty yards wide, and now, from the melting of the snow, 
about eight feet deep, though in August and September its depth 
is not over two feet. 

On the 11th, the junction of Wild Rice River was passed ; after 



240 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

which the current became more moderate and the quantity of 
water lessi Next day the carrying place which leads to Red Lake 
River was reached ; a distance of sixty -four miles up this sinuous 
river having been made. The east or right bank was covered 
with a fine forest of pine, but higher up the aspen prevailed. On 
the west bank grew patches of hard wood, with a rich soil and 
fine meadows leading to the plain. The carrying place is four 
miles long, part marsh and part good ground ; it leads to the bank 
of the Red Lake River, in latitude 48° 0' 55% longitude 95° 54' 28", 
variation ten degrees east. 

The course now lay up this river to Red Lake, a distance of 
thirty-two miles. Both banks were well timbered ; oak, ash and 
other hard woods being intermixed with aspen and poplars, the rich 
deep soil everywhere covered with water from the melting of the 
snow. So level was the surface that only here and there a bit of 
dry land was to be seen. At night the party cut down trees to 
sleep upon. 

The head of this river, at its junction with the lake, was found 
by observation to be in latitude 47° 58' 15", longitude 95° 35' 37". 
To make a distance in a straight line north 82° east, it was neces- 
sary to travel one hundred and seventeen statute miles, and con- 
sume seven days of fourteen hours each. 

At this lake, the old chief She-she-she-pas-kut, with six lodges 
of Chippeways, was encamped. The Chippeways being without a 
canoe, Mr. Thompson lent them his, with which to spear fish in the 
night. 

Three sturgeon, weighing sixty pounds each, 'were caught. 
They were good for clear water lake sturgeon ; this fish, like the 
hog, being most at home in mud. 

Red Lake* is a fine sheet of water, about thirty miles in length 
and ten in breadth ; the banks twenty to thirty feet high ; the 
soil, somewhat sandy, produces fine firs and other woods; in some 
places dwarf white cedar. The North-west Company occasionally 
had a trading-house here for a winter. The country, poor in furs, 

* This is the lake to which the proposed boundary line of Canada was to be drawn in 
the abortive negotiations for peace in 1761. 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 241 

would be exhausted by a winter's hunt, and would require to lie 
fallow for some time. The lake being partly covered with ice, the 
canoe was paddled in open places, and hauled on a rude sled, ex- 
temporized for the occasion, over patches of ice. This amphibious 
kind of travelling was continued over a distance of seventeen 
miles ; wet, laborious work, performed amid many showers of rain 
and sleet. 

A carrying place, six miles long, has now to be passed, in a 
southerly direction, the road leading through a forest of firs and 
aspens, with a sprinkling of oak and ash. The ground in the 
middle of the carrying place presented numerous ascents and de- 
scents of from twenty to forty feet ; the first met with since Red 
River was left. By nine o'clock, p.m., April 23, everything had 
been carried overland to Turtle Lake. The source of the Missis- 
sippi River was reached four days later. The journey was very 
fatiguing. The country travelled over presented a succession of 
lakelets or ponds, some of which were open and others partly 
covered with ice, winding brooks and carrying places. The low 
level country everywhere presented the appearance of an immense 
marsh, growing an abundance of wild rice over an area of at least 
six thousand square miles. 

The distance from Red River, south 70° east, fifty-six statute 
miles, was made in nineteen days — not quite three miles, in a 
direct line, a day. Owing to the winding character of the brooks, 
an hour's paddling would sometimes produce scarcely any progress. 
Turtle Lake, the head of the Mississippi River, is about four 
miles square. Its small bays give it the shape of a turtle. 
This lake was supposed, in 1783, to be farther north than the 
north-west corner of the Lake of the Woods, and this supposition 
led to the error in the treaty of that year. The error arose from 
the fur traders who ascended the Upper Mississippi counting every 
pipe a league, at the end of which it was the habit to take a rest. 
Mr. Thompson found these pipe distances to be as unsubstantial as 
the smoke itself, and that each instead of three only measured two 
miles. And the error was not to make due allowance for the 
sinuosities of the river. By this false method of reckoning the 
16 



242 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

notion had arisen that the head waters of the Mississippi were 12cS 
geographical miles farther north than Mr. Thompson's survey 
proved them to be. The north bank of the lake is in latitude 
47° 38' 20", longitude 95° 12' 4". 

Mr. Thompson here fell in with two canoes of Indians on their 
way to Red Cedar Lake, and as his own canoe was leaking he 
went with them in one of theirs. On the south-west corner of 
Turtle Lake is Turtle Brook, three yards wide, two feet deep, and 
having a current of two-and-a-half miles an hour. Rather than fol- 
low its windings, they made a portage of 180 yards to a small lake 
out of which they emerged into a brook, the fantastic windings and 
turnings of which they followed through a country of grass and 
marsh. Three portages had tobe made to avoid as many falls, and seve- 
ral rapids with a gravelly bottom were passed over. On approaching 
Red Cedar Lake, several brooks from either side contributed their 
waters ; the stream at the entrance of that lake being fifteen yards 
wide, two feet deep, and having a current of three miles an hour. 
Crossing the lake, a distance of five miles, Mr. Thompson reached a 
trading-house of the North- West Company, in charge of John 
Sayer, one of the partners, which was found to be in lat. 47° 27' 5$", 
long. 94° 52', variation six degrees east. From the mouth of Turtle 
Lake to this trading-house the distance is, south 58° east, 25 miles; 
but the windings of the river more than treble the distance to be 
travelled. On each side of the valley grew oak, ash, elm, birch, pine, 
aspen, and, where there was a little elevation, fine maple ; soil 
deep, grass long. Mr. Sayer and his men had passed the whole 
winter here, on no more substantial food than wild rice and maple 
sugar; The rice made good soup, but when Mr. Thompson tried to 
live on it he soon became ill. About sixty heads of families traded 
at this house, and Mr. Sayer estimated each Indian family at 
seven persons, which would make the whole number 420. 

On the 3rd May, Mr. Thompson started down the river, now ex- 
panded to twenty-six yards in width by three deep, and having a 
current of two miles an hour. The Valley of the Mississippi had 
here the appearance of a meadow of long, half-dried grass, free 
from water, and scarcely half a mile wide, gradually expanding as 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 243 

it descends. At the mouth of Sand Lake River, the river 
becomes sixty-two yards wide and twelve feet deep. Sand Lake 
River, south 48° east, is sixty-eight miles from Red Cedar Lake. 
In this distance there are ten miles of lake and fifty-eight of river ; 
the windings on the river make the distance to be travelled on it 
two hundred miles. The descent from Turtle Lake to Cedar Lake 
is ninety-seven feet nine inches, and from Cedar Lake to Sand 
Lake River 333 feet four inches, making a change of level of no 
less than 431 feet in an apparently even country. 

Arriving at Sand Lake River on the 6th, Mr. Thompson entered 
it to make his way to Lake Superior. This river is twenty yards 
wide, five in depth, and runs a mile and a half an hour. When he 
had proceeded a mile, half the distance to Sand Lake, Mr. Thomp- 
son arrived at another trading-house of the North- West Company, 
under charge of Mr. Boiske\ Here were the women and children 
of about twenty families. All the furs bought at this post were 
the produce of the country between the Mississippi River and Lake 
Superior. Twenty heads of families brought their furs here; reck- 
oning seven to a family, this post must have been supported by 
the labour of two hundred and ninety-four Indians, men, women 
and children. This trading-house was found to be in north lati- 
tude 46° 46' 30", longitude, 93° 44' 17" west. 

Mr. Thompson had now to cross the country to reach the river 
St. Louis, by which he was to descend to Lake Superior. Crossing 
Sand Lake, May 7th, which is about four miles in length and one 
wide, to Savannah Brook, he proceeded eight geographical miles — 
made nine by devours — to a great swamp a mile wide, in a north 
81° east direction ; the latter portion, consisting of a bog, being 
passed over by means of a few sticks to form a road, to slip from 
which entailed the penalty of sinking down to the waist. Across 
this description of country, growing scrubby pines a few feet high, 
all the baggage of the party had to be carried. Over this route 
the North-West Company had to carry all the furs, provisions, 
baggage, goods, and canoes connected with their trade between 
Lake Superior and the Mississippi. The custom was for the per- 
son in charge of the brigade to cross this bog and swa mp as rapidly 



244 UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 

as possible, leaving the men to take their own time. It was so 
difficult to get canoes or goods over this swamp, of which no one 
standing in the middle could see the end, in any direction ; it 
was the custom of the North-West Company to keep canoes at 
both ends. The swamp having been crossed, after a hard day's 
work and with the aid of an extra man, Mr. Thompson found the 
latitude to be 4G° 52' 3" north, longitude 92° 28' 42" west, variation 
six degrees east. 

Passing through a small brook a distance of twelve miles in a 
direct line, but twenty by its course, Mr. Thompson entered the 
River St. Louis, a stream about one hundred yards wide and 
eight deep. The men of his party, who had been in the habit of 
navigating this river for years, assured him that in August and 
the two following months it has only eighteen inches of water, 
running among stones, which it is often necessary to turn the 
canoe aside to avoid. In one of the many rapids of this river the 
canoe filled with water. Then came cataracts formed by a series 
of small steps round a point of rock, necessitating resort to a car- 
rying place 1,576 yards long. Then after four miles more another 
carrying place of seven miles, where, on the left of the travellers, 
the river has a series of falls estimated at one hundred and twenty 
feet, below which the river flows with a moderate course into 
Lake Superior. Near the mouth of the river was a trading-house 
of the North- West Company, under charge of M. Lemoine, in 
latitude 46° 44' 33", longitude 92° 9' 45", variation five and a 
half degrees east. M. Lemoine's returns were six hundred pounds of 
furs, and he expected to obtain four hundred pounds more, nine kegs 
of gum from the fir trees to staunch the canoes, and one hundred 
and twenty gallons of maple sugar. About two hundred and 
twenty Indian families traded at this house, representing two hun- 
dred and ten persons in all. 

" I have," says Mr. Thompson, " only set down my observations 
made at certain places, but they are numerous all over the survey, 
as every clear day no opportunity was omitted of taking observa- 
tions for latitude and longitude to correct the courses and distances 
of the survey." 



UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES OF ONTARIO. 245 

It was customary to lay up the canoes that descended the river 
to Lake Superior, as well as those that came up the lake. Mr. 
Thompson's party had to take a northern canoe twenty-eight feet 
in length, in a state of dilapidation. They repaired it and fitted 
it up with two oars, as there were only three men, to encounter 
the winds and waves of Lake Superior. 

In canoes such as that Mr. Thompson here obtained, the fur 
trade was carried great distances into the interior ; in his own 
words, it " extended to within two or three days' march of the 
shores and factories of Hudson's Bay." 






OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF THE NORTH-WEST 
COMPANY. 

You will endeavour to prevail on them [Indians or Esquimaux] 
by such reward, and to be paid in such manner as may best an- 
swer the purpose, to carry to any of the settlements of the Hud- 
son's Bay Company, or of the North-west Company, an account 
of your situation and proceedings ; with an urgent request that it 
may be forwarded to England with the utmost despatch. — Of- 
ficial instructions of Wm. Edward Parry, Commander of the 
Expedition, comprising the Hecla and the Gripper, by the Com- 
missioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of the 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, May 1, 1819. 
(Signed) Melville. 

G. Moore. 

G. Cogkburn. 

[The foregoing clause had previously been inserted in the official 
instructions of John Ross, R. S., Captain Royal Navy, who had 
command of His Majesty's ships the Isabella and the Alexander, 
March 31, 1818, signed Melville, J. S. Yorke, George Hope, and 
G. Moore, Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High 
Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.] 



INDEX TO DOCUMENTS. 



Pack 

Albany, Fort, Capitulation of. 132 

BOUNDARIES OF CANADA AND HUDSON'S BAY : — 

To be settled 143 

Erroneous statement of settlement 162 

Canadian fur traders 161 

Their enterprise in the North- West after the conquest 220 

Extent of Country occupied by the North- West Company 

in 1796 225 

The North- West Company officially recognized. .... 245 

Canada, boundaries of : — 

French Official descriptions 169-70 

English Official descriptions of. 171-2-3-4-5-6 

On the New York side 176 

Negotiations for cession of, in 1761 212 

French memorial of propositions 212 

Answer of the British Court to French memorial 213 

Ultimatum of France in reply to that of England .: 214 

Mr. PitttoM. DeBussy ?.. 215 

Answer of the British Minister to the Ultimatum of France 215 
The last memorial of France to England 218 

COMPAGNIE DU NORD : — 

Complains of the losses it has sustained at the hands of the 

English and ask for aid.. 137 

Is obliged to repeat its demand for aid against the English. 140 
The Canadian garrison will perish if not aided by the King. 143 
Company not in a condition to send a vessel to Hudson's Bay 1 43 



248 INDEX TO DOCUMENTS. 

Discoveries in the North-west. 

State of geographical knowledge regarding 198 

Les Verennes de Verandyre 200 

Establishment of French posts in the interior as far as the 

Rocky Mountains 200 to 205 

French official order regarding 204 

Council of the Marine upon 206 

Letter from MM. Vaudreuil and Begon 207 

Discovery, rights derived from , 120 

Discovery, alleged, of Hudson's Bay by the Danes 124 

Forts : — 

Albany, capitulation of, by the English 132 

Position of 160 

York, capitulation of, by the French 141 

" most important of the Forts 159 

" position of. 160 

Eastmain, position of 160 

Severn House ; 160 

Churchhill 160 

Moore 160 

Nelson restored to the English 195 

Hudson's Bay: — 

French orders to fortify 124 

French vessels to go there.. 125 

French claim to have originally discovered the countries 

bordering on 126 

Jolliet's voyage there 126 

Raddison's voyage there 126 

Project for driving the English from 127 

The British Ambassador complains of Raddison's seizure 

of a fort on 127 

Movements of the English near 128 

English to be prevented from establishing themselves there 1 28 

English on Bay injured the French traders 129 

Raddison goes over to the English and attacks the French. 130 

De la Barre censured for returning Guillam's vessel 1 30 






INDEX TO DOCUMENTS. 249 

Iberville in command at the Bay 131 

French claim to have had prior possession of. 132 

French Government called on to assist Canadians there... 132 

Capitulation of Fort Albany by the English 132 

Difficulties of the overland route from Canada 133 

Proposed exchange of places on : . . . 1 34 

Project to capture Port Nelson 135 

The French King resolves to send vessels there 136 

The Compagnie du Nord asks the King for assistance 137 

The enterprise intended by the French King could not 

be carried out in 1693 139 

Capitulation of Fort York 141 

Compagnie du Nord not in a condition to send a vessel to 143 

Oldmixon's account of discoveries and contests on 1 46 

Posts on 160 

Hudson's Bay Company hang helplessly around 168 

French proposal to exchange places 180 

Observations of the Board of Trade on French proposal... 181 

Illinois : — 

Annexed to Louisiana 209 

Louis XIV. asks MM. de Beauharnois and Hoquart whe- 
ther it should remain dependent on Louisiana 211 

Lake Nipegon: — 

Du l'Hut's brother goes to the rivers above 131 

North- West Company : — 

Extent of country occupied by, in 1796 : 225 

Pacific Ocean : — 

French think of discovering 135 

Did any water connect it with the Lake of the Woods... 167 

Selkirk, Earl of : — 

Hudson's Bay Company's grant to 178 

Temiscamingue : — 

Limits of.. 196 

Explanation of the ancient limits 197 



250 INDEX TO DOCUMENTS. 

Territorial Rights :— 

Loss of, by abandonment 208 

Thompson, David 



Astronomer and Surveyor to the North West Company. . . 225 

Establishes the position of the North-West Company's Posts 226 

A detailed account of his survey 228 

Treaties : — 

Of Breda 109 

Of Neutrality 

OfNimeguen 109 

Of St. Germain 107 

Provisional, concerning America 114 

Of Ryswick 117 

Of Aix la Chapelle 118 

Of 1763 118 

Utrecht : 

Negotiations for peace of. 182 

Preliminary demands of Great Britain 182 

Reply of the French King 182 

General plan of Peace for Great Britain 182 

Report of the French Plenipotentaries to the King 184 

Bolingbroke to De Torcy 184 

French reply to the English memorial 186 

Offers of France — demands for England — the King's answer 189 

Bolingbroke to De Torcy 190 

De Torcy to Prior 191 

The Duke of Shrewsbury to Lord Bolingbroke 191 

Memoir of the Marquis de Torcy, touching the bona im- 

mobilia 192 

Bolingbroke to the Duke of Shrewsbury 193 

The Duke of Shrewsbury to Lord Bolingbroke 193 

Memoirs of the Marquis de Torcy 194 

Voyages, Object of ..... 121-2 



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